THE chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial institutions an Currencies, Senator Grace Poe prodded the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regulators to “help fraud victims get their money back.”
In a statement last Tuesday, Senator Grace Poe prodded the BSP to “advocate for the rights of consumers and use its influence on banks to ensure fraud victims get their money back.
“Financial regulators are keen on throwing banks a line when they are deemed to be too big to fail,” Poe, panel chairman, noted adding a reminder that “equally, individuals deserve proper and timely support.”
“People should be at the core of what government does and no one should be too small to ignore,” Poe said.
The Senator recalled the BSP itself had earlier noted that people were still hesitant to transact online for fear of getting scammed or hacked, attributing such to lack of awareness.
She cited reports that groups in social media have been created by victims of online bank fraud, noting that “one group collated data on the amounts people lost to fraud, with over 150 victims coming out and losses amounting to P7.5 million.”
According to her, “addressing the concerns of consumers and helping them get their hard-earned money back will help improve confidence” in online transactions.
Likewise, the lawmaker noted that overseas Filipino workers (OFW) have also been victimized but some are fortunate enough to be in a different time zone and are awake when the crime happens that they got a chance to call the bank to freeze their accounts and limit their losses.
Poe cited the BSP’s chatbot, where victims can raise their complaints, as a good start as well as the central bank’s information campaigns to increase the awareness on how to avoid being a victim of fraud also help. However, she stressed heightened measures are demanded by the public.
“Some of the money stolen go to accounts that victims have identified,” the Senator said, reminding that banks are expected to timely and effectively act. “Certainly, the BSP must leave no stone unturned in safeguarding the welfare of our consumers.”
Poe recalled that Republic Act 11521 (An Act Further Amending the Anti-Money Laundering Act) was timely passed and enacted into law in January this year.
“Such should also help equip regulators with a way of tracking the money trail to help resolve some cases,” Poe said. “Coordination with other government agencies must also be improved.”
Image credits: Roy Domingo