UNION Bank of the Philippines assured the public its cybersecurity systems remain uncompromised even after the P1-million credit card hacking incident that victimized Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian.
“No, none at all,” UnionBank Chief Technology and Operations Officer Henry R. Aguda, said in a virtual event on Wednesday, when asked if there was a data security breach following the incident.
“It wasn’t a cybersecurity hack,” he clarified.
Early this year, Gatchalian shared that P1 million worth of orders via food delivery app FoodPanda were booked without his consent, with hackers using his credit card to pay for the transactions.
The senator said he only noticed that his credit card was used illegally around 6 p.m. of January 5. Looking at the history, there were four food order transactions completed by the hackers in about an hour.
When the bank was notified of the incident, Aguda said UnionBank acted accordingly to address the issues.
“Beyond that, we continuously improve our systems as well as study the things out there that might cause inconvenience with our customers,” he said.
Regarding the identity of the hackers, the UnionBank official said the bank “will defer to the authorities in terms of the details of the investigation and the ongoing pursuit of the criminal.”
For its part, UnionBank said it has been executing awareness campaigns about phishing scams that the consumers may potentially encounter. A phishing email usually contains the bank’s logo to seemingly appear as an official message, he said.
These fraudsters, Aguda pointed out, have become more “sophisticated,” studying and timing their attacks. He added the scammers are preying on the public’s emotions and vulnerability, tricking them into sharing their banking details.
As a warning, Aguda said that scammers are likely to launch new phishing schemes next month amid the celebration of Valentine’s day. This, after their cyber-attacks last December during Christmas.
“Think before you click,” Aguda said, noting that the clients should carefully check first the content of the email sent to them. He also advised the consumers to use different email addresses for banking and personal use.
Despite the surge in online scams, the UnionBank official said the country is ready to shift to digital transactions.
Aguda said the regulators provide proper guidance on how to protect the consumers. A regulatory framework is also compelling all banks to report such incidents to the authorities, he added.
“The heart-breaking thing here is there are a couple of very bad actors that will put our digital transformation at risk,” he said. “We cannot be held hostage by a couple of criminals.”
“As a warning to scammers or would-be scammers, while we cannot disclose the details, the bank is doing everything it can, working with the authorities to go after those who would victimize our banking customers in general,” Aguda added.
In addition, the Aboitiz-led bank said it will be rolling out more security features soon.
Shares in UnionBank slipped by 0.98 percent, or 70 centavos, to close at P70.40 each amid the 0.77-percent drop for the main index on Wednesday.