Credit card issuers unite to fight ‘budol’
The Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP) further strengthened its advocacy towards the responsible use of credit cards and enhanced protection of cardholders by rallying its member-issuers behind its ongoing #FightBudol campaign.
The country’s 18 major credit card players comprising CCAP marked Fraud Awareness Week last July 18 to 22 by simultaneously mounting social media campaigns that aimed to educate and raise awareness among Filipino consumers on fighting credit card fraud.
CCAP figures showed fraudulent credit card activities via remote and other digital payment channels increased by 21% in the country since the start of the global pandemic, which forced customers to shift to remote and other digital payments to deal with face-to-face restrictions.
“Fraud cases have been on the rise due to the growing acceptance of various digital payment platforms, causing financial detriment to the industry,” said CCAP executive director Alex Ilagan.
CCAP said consumers must watch out for these four modi operandi or new ways scammers or fraudsters use to lure their victims:
- Surrendered Cards Scam: This is a type of fraud in which the fraudster tricks the victim into surrendering the card by posing as a bank personnel and offering higher credit card limits and lifetime waiver of annual fees.
What you should do: Never surrender your card to anyone. Banks will never ask you to submit your credit card for replacements or upgrades. Dispose of your old credit cards properly by punching holes on their magnetic strip or chip to ensure they cannot be reused by anyone.
- Account Takeover: This is when a fraudster calls up the customer service of the bank, aiming to take over and gain access to a victim’s account. The fraudster will pretend to be the customer, try to answer all the positive ID verification, and request changes on the account such as mobile number and card delivery address. These changes are meant to intercept the One Time Passwords (OTPs) sent by banks for e-commerce transactions.
What you should do: Be alert and read bank notifications about any changes made on your credit card account. If you received such notification or OTPs for transactions which you did not perform, call your bank immediately.
- Phishing, Vishing, and Smishing: These are fraud tactics to trick victims into divulging card information. Phishing is done via email, vishing by phone, and smishing via SMS. Fraudsters pretend to be from the bank and offer fake promotions, services, or security verifications. Once the victim divulges their card information, the fraudster can now perform unauthorized online purchases.
What you should do: Keep your card details (especially your CVV and OTPs) confidential, even from callers pretending to be from your bank. Banks will never ask
for your CVV and OTP via a call, text, or email links. If you accidentally divulged your CVV and OTP to a third party, call your bank immediately.
- SMS Spoofing: This is an advanced type of smishing fraud in which the fraudster is able to mimic and send fake SMS messages using the target bank’s actual SMS sender ID or name. Using SMS aggregators or gateways, fraudsters are able to trick victims into believing that the SMS is legitimate and really came from the bank.
What to do: Do not click on unfamiliar links sent via SMS even if the sender ID seems to be from your bank. Your bank will never request for your CVV2 and OTP over SMS text links. If you get a text that seems to be asking for your credit card data, ignore it; it’s not real.
“Combating financial crime is a shared responsibility. Thus, we are enjoining everyone to help us in our continuous fight against these progressive fraudsters,” CCAP said. Through its #FightBudolMovement campaign on social media, CCAP and its members continue to educate their credit cardholders on how to fight fraud. To help in the effort and for more information, visit CCAP’s website: //www.ccap.net.ph or follow the CCAP Facebook page, fb.com/CreditCardAssocPH, for more consumer tips.
