Growing wealth through investment
has recently been made easier and simpler with the emergence of online trading
platforms. Unfortunately, this has also resulted in the rise of unscrupulous individuals
exploiting online investors.
To safeguard Filipinos from falling
into the hands of these fraudsters, the Philippine National Police
Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) and the Philippines' leading mobile wallet
GCash share a few guidelines on how to know if an online investment offer is a
scam.
“As a financially inclusive
investment platform, GCash continues to give Filipinos access to online
investment opportunities, but at the same time, we are also working hard to
educate and give our users knowledge on how to avoid scams,” said AJ Sibal,
GCash Fraud Management Head.
The most basic description of such
a scam is a high return on investment in just a short span of time.
“Beware of these types of promises
as they are too good to be true. For example, they will promise 50% profit in
just two weeks. Worse, they seem to be in a hurry for you to send the seed
investment money immediately,” warned PNP-ACG spokesperson P/Capt. Michelle
Sabino.
Another red flag is when the offer
is very secretive of their company information. As one of the key players in
the investment landscape via in-app features such as GFunds and GStocks PH,
GCash strongly advises investors to check the List of Public Companies by the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) first to make sure investment offers
are legitimate.
GCash reiterates its warning to
users to never disclose their MPIN or OTP and to avoid clicking on unknown
links from websites, emails, or messaging apps. For assistance, users can
contact the PNP-ACG through their hotlines at (02) 8414-1560 or 0998-598-8116,
or via email at acg@pnp.gov.ph. To report scams and fraudulent activities,
users can also visit the official GCash Help Center at help.gcash.com or
message Gigi on the website and type “I want to report a scam.” Customers can
also reach out to the official GCash hotline at 2882 for inquiries and other
concerns.
For more information, visit www.gcash.com.ph.
.jpg)
