Gatchalian seeks NBI help to probe credit card hacking

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday asked the help of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the recent hacking of his credit card, where the hacker purchased P1 million worth of food items from a food delivery app.

“Thank you very much to the NBI team, sana po mahuli na po natin ito para hindi na maulit. Maraming tumatawag dito at nagsusumbong dahil sila rin nabibiktima nitong modus,” Gatchalian said in a press conference at the NBI Headquarters, as he filed an incident report at the NBI for his credit card woes.

(Thank you very much to the NBI team, I hope this will not happen again. A lot of people are complaining because they too were victims of this modus.)

The senator also underscored that investigation is needed as there are other victims of the credit card hacking modus.

“Kahapon po noong lumabas sa media, marami kaming nakuha na messages at tawag na na itong ganitong modus pala nararanasan ng ibang kasama natin at kababayan natin. Kaya sabi ko magkaraoon ng isang formal na investigation, hindi lang para sa akin kundi para sa ibang biktima para mahanap natin kung sino gumagawa nito,” Gatchalian said.

(Yesterday, when it came out in the media, we received a lot of messages and calls that there is such a modus being experienced by many other Filipinos. That’s why I said, we need to have a formal investigation, not only for myself, but also for other victims so that we may determine who did this.)

In the same press briefing, NBI Cybercrime Division chief Victor Lorenzo said if suspects will be arrested, they will face complaints for violation of Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998, Electronic Commerce Act  and Cybercrime Prevention Act, specifically for identity theft and illegal access.

After experiencing the cyberattack, Gatchalian called on banks to level up their security protocols amid the surge of online transactions  during the coronavirus disease pandemic.

JE