MANILA, Philippines- Nakatakdang tuldukan ng Senado ang patuloy na phishing attack sa financial system kabilang ang money mule at online fraud na nambibiktima ng indibidwal sa internet sakaling maipasa ang Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act o AFASA.
Inihayag ito ni Senador Mark Villar, chairman ng Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies matapos pangunahan ang pagdinig sa tatlong Senate Resolutions, 4 Senate Bills, at isang House Bill, nitong Lunes upang lumikha ng matinding kaparusahan sa scammers at framework sa proteksyon ng indibidwal.
“The number of phishing attacks in the Philippines during the first half of 2022 already surpassed the number of attacks in the whole year of 2021. In that period, over 1.8 million attacks have been detected compared to 1.34 million attacks in 2021,” ayon kay Mark Villar.
Sinabi ni Villar na lubha nang nakababahala ang tumataas na kaso ng online scam na nambibiktima ng mga Filipino matapos matuklasan sa data mula sa Kaspersky Security Network na nagsasabing tumaas ang kaso ng financial phishing attempts sa Pilipinas mula February hanggang April 2022 na pinakamataas sa Southeast Asia.
Aniya, tutugunan ng Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act o AFASA ang lahat ng kaso ng online fraud.
“The AFASA will provide a regulatory framework that penalizes scammers and entails safeguard measures to protect Filipinos and their financial accounts.”
“Because of the lack of a regulatory framework that penalizes these scammers, there are and there will be more victims in the foreseeable future. Even as we speak, there are individuals being victimized by these scammers who seize every vulnerable opportunity available to them. We cannot watch from the sidelines as scammers take advantage of our people,” giit ni Mark Villar.
Sinabi pa ni Mark Villar na banta din sa financial system ang online fraud dahil mawawalan ng tiwala ang publiko sa financial institutions tulad ng bangko at iba pang e-wallet.
Aniya, palalakasin ng AFASA ang tiwala ng publiko sa bangko at financial institutions sakaling pagtibayin ang panukala ng Kongreso.
“Being a key component of our economy, our banking and financial institutions must remain strong and responsive to this persistent threat. We should not give these scammers an avenue and more time to victimize our people. We must act now. Take a stand with us in protecting our banks, economy, and the Filipinos. Walang lugar ang mga scammer sa bagong Pilipinas!”,” ayon sa senador.
Nagkaroon ng executive session matapos ang pagdinig sanhi ng confidentiality at sensitivity ng mga isyu at impormasyon na tinatalakay upang hindi maantala o magambala ang ginawang imbestigasyon ng law enforcement agencies sa scammers. Ernie Reyes
