Further cementing its long-standing
commitment to provide Filipinos with secure and safe digital financial
services, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC) has
signed an agreement with the country’s number one finance app, GCash, to
intensify its campaign against online fraud and scams.
Under the agreement, GCash will
continue to collaborate with CICC, leverage their capabilities, synergize
efforts in combating cybercrime activities, and improve cyber capabilities and
resilience while accelerating digitization initiatives in line with its vision
of “Finance for All.”.
The MOA signing ceremony was graced
by Department of Information and
Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy, who emphasized that
the CICC, which is an agency under the DICT, and GCash will synergize their
strengths to become “futurists” that will work together to protect Filipinos by
preempting the activities of cybercriminals.
The partnership between the CICC
and GCash, he said, is “a strong signal to the whole community and to cyber
criminals that we are not sitting back, that we will be aggressive in securing
the money that the public has entrusted to us, and that we will actively,
diligently, and relentlessly run after cybercriminals, whoever they may be, and
bring them to justice.”
Joining Sec. Uy in signing the
agreement were CICC Undersecretary Alexander Ramos and Retired Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes,
Jr., GCash Head of New Businesses, Corporate Affairs, and Sustainability
Winsley Bangit, GCash Chief Legal Officer Atty. Maria Corazon Alvarez-Adriano
and GCash Legal Head Atty. Gilbert A. Escoto.
In his speech, Usec. Ramos urged
the victims of online scams to immediately file a report with GCash and the
CICC, "not on social media.”.
This, said Ramos, will mobilize the
rapid incident response mechanism made possible by the partnership between
GCash and the CICC so that the public can be properly protected in time and
prevent scammers from getting more victims. The undersecretary also urged the
public to reach out to the government’s 24/7 anti-scam response hotline in case
of suspected scams by dialing 1326.
Through its continuous cooperation
with authorities, GCash has blocked over 4 million fraudulent accounts and
taken down 810 phishing sites and 45,000 malicious social media posts and
accounts in 2023.
A strong alliance with government
agencies like the CICC, said Bangit, is
a big boost to creating a safer digital ecosystem for Filipinos, especially as they transact
online. “We are honored to stand shoulder to shoulder with you in the pursuit
of a safer and more just society,” he added.
In her closing remarks, Atty. Alvarez-Adriano said that in the ongoing
integration of digital technologies with the support of public sector agencies
like the CICC, “GCash is poised for a state-of-the-art, stable, and inclusive
financial system that will support the
economic growth of the country.”
For more information, please visit www.gcash.com.
