Manila: GCash expressed support for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) efforts to strengthen consumer protection and promote safer digital payment practices through stronger merchant verification and ecosystem controls.
According to Philippines News Agency, GCash's active monitoring and fraud surveillance systems continue to detect, flag, and report suspicious transaction patterns and misuse activities to the BSP and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). GCash Chief Information Officer Miguel Geronilla noted that fraudsters are adapting traditional scam tactics into digital channels, employing methods such as fake QR codes, impersonation, fake seller activity, fraudulent payment screenshots, and deceptive payment pages.
Geronilla stated, "Scammers are exploiting trust, urgency, impersonation, and social engineering tactics - not just technology." He emphasized GCash's commitment to protecting users through stronger coordination, stricter onboarding controls, and proactive monitoring, and called on merchant onboarding counterparts to ensure stricter verification to avoid QR misuse.
GCash reported ongoing collaboration with BSP, AMLC, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), and the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) to combat suspicious digital transaction activity and financial cybercrime. Since 2025, GCash has blocked 7,000 merchants linked to suspected illegal online gambling, suspicious transaction activity, and potential abuse of digital payment channels.
Geronilla highlighted the importance of maintaining trust in the digital payments ecosystem by upholding strong compliance, monitoring, and consumer protection standards. He urged swift action against bad actors exploiting gaps in digital payment environments through strong coordination, proactive monitoring, and effective safeguards across the ecosystem.
GCash reminded users to verify recipient and merchant details before completing transactions and to exercise caution when scanning QR codes shared online or through unknown or suspicious sources. They advised users to watch for warning signs such as suspicious website URLs, mismatched merchant identities, and unfamiliar payment pages despite using GCash or QRPh logos.
If any suspicious signs are present, GCash advised users to stop the transaction immediately and report suspicious merchants and QRs to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group at (02) 8414-1560 / 0998-598-8116 or [email protected], and to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) via hotline 1326, mobile 0991-481-4225, or [email protected].
