INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Popular e-wallet brand GCash, which has been in hot water due to recent complaints of unauthorized transactions, has rolled out another layer of safety features to prevent hackers from illegally taking over accounts.
In a statement on Tuesday, the financial technology player backed by Globe Telecom said its “DoubleSafe” Face ID feature is already available to 100 percent of its verified users.
The feature is activated for every first login to a new device by the user. It is backed by facial recognition, which prevents hackers from accessing the account despite them getting the users’ mobile PIN and one-time PIN.
“The face recognition feature is built within the app and doesn’t require mobile phones with high-end features. We made sure all our verified user base will have access to this security feature as we notice the prevalence of phishing attempts outside the app,” said Pebbles Sy, chief technology and operations officer of GCash.
Apart from this, GCash said it has been foiling accounts and sites found to be engaged in fraudulent activity, such as phishing. A common type of this cyberattack is text scam, which proliferated during the pandemic.
The e-wallet service provider said it blocked 3.1 million accounts, 722 phishing sites and 38,000 malicious social media posts tagged as fraudulent in the first four months.
GCash said it was “actively” going after cyberhackers through its cooperation with the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center.
Unauthorized deductions
Earlier this month, the popular e-wallet company dealt with numerous complaints from its users over unauthorized deductions from their GCash accounts.
GCash earlier explained that no hacking was involved. Instead, it said that there was a deliberate phishing attempt, a fraudulent activity whereby hackers trick victims into providing their personal information, such as contact details. Getting hold of this information can allow hackers to take over one’s account.
“Some users may have unknowingly shared their information to suspicious sites masked as legitimate brands or institutions,” GCash previously explained.
Upon detection, GCash placed the app under maintenance check, making it inaccessible for several hours. It was able to eventually restore the original account balances of users.
GCash said it was coordinating with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the National Privacy Commission to get to the bottom of the issue.
“We remain steadfast in ensuring the protection of our customers’ funds and data as we continue to invest in the latest cybersecurity technologies and capabilities,” it added.