Banks Caution Clients On Cybercriminals

The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) has cautioned the public to heed the financial institutions’ advice to protect themselves against cybercriminals.

Photo Insert: Online fraud has been rampant especially since the pandemic hit

In a statement on Thursday, the BAP cited the rising online fraud like phishing and other cybercrimes, that resulted in numerous money losses for bank clients especially since the pandemic hit in 2020.

“We ask the public to remain vigilant against these schemes. Today, cybercriminals are creating more methods to defraud the public. We would like to remind the customers that banks regularly communicate the best practices that the public can utilize to ensure their cyber safety. We call on everyone to be aware of these reminders and apply them so that cybercriminals will fail in their attacks,” it said.

The BAP also assured the public that all banks have rigorous protocols when it comes to investigating cybercrimes for these criminals to be apprehended and penalized.

It said the industry also continues to make investments related to cybersecurity to protect clients’ personal data at all times.

“Ensuring everyone’s security in cyberspace must be a joint effort between banks and their clients. We would like to reiterate the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ call for collaboration among stakeholders such as law enforcement agencies, regulators, the banking industry, and the public at large to gather and share knowledge about cyber threats. This will allow for swift creation of measures that would prevent these threats from harming Filipinos,” it added.

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