Senate bill seeks to protect senior citizens from cybercrimes, scams

(REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration)

MANILA, Philippines – A bill seeking to protect senior citizens from cybercrimes such as text scams. has been filed by Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.

In a statement on Sunday, Estrada said he filed Senate Bill No. 671 or the “Senior Citizens’ Fraud Education Act” amid the “continuing proliferation of online crimes which increased at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, targeting mostly retired elderly citizens.”

The bill is aimed at creating an inter-agency centralized service that will provide seniors, their families, and carers with regular information to deter scammers from carrying out their schemes.

 “Walang manloloko kung walang magpapaloko. At walang mabibiktima kung sila ay may alam sa mga istilo ng mga scammers (There is no scammer if there is no one to scam. And no one will fall victim if they know the scammers’ schemes),” Estrada said.

 He stressed that vulnerable sectors should be protected against fraudsters as he noted that most elderly consumers are unfamiliar with today’s technology.

Under the proposed measure, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be the lead agency and would be supported by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health (DOH), and the Philippine Postal Corporation.

 The DTI shall also collaborate with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Insurance Commission (IC), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in determining the various nature of scams and cybercrimes.

A website will also be maintained to help people identify fraud involving financial services, loan and investment products, insurance goods, text scams, and other illegal actions

RELATED STORIES:

Bank clients lose over P1 billion to cybercrime

Cybercrime cases rise, bring P360B in losses worldwide—FBI

Balancing cybercrime prevention and data privacy

gsg