Manila: Internet watchdog Scam Watch Pilipinas (Scam Watch) has criticized the response of local bank BDO Unibank (BDO) over a viral case involving unauthorized bank transactions, describing it as 'incomplete' and 'unfair to depositors.'

According to Philippines News Agency, Scam Watch co-founder Art Samaniego expressed dissatisfaction with BDO's reaction to a viral social media post, pointing out that the bank's response fails to address the core issue. Samaniego highlighted BDO's focus on social engineering and familial fraud while overlooking the crucial question of how the bank's own security limits were bypassed.

Samaniego emphasized that banks enforce daily withdrawal and transfer caps for each customer to act as 'circuit breakers' in cases of fraud. He cited an instance where PHP189,000 was withdrawn from an account with a PHP50,000 cap, suggesting that the safeguards failed. He argued that customers cannot override these restrictions, indicating that the compromise likely occurred within the bank's systems rather than on the customer's device.

Further criticizing BDO's stance, Samaniego stated that the bank's advisory shifts responsibility entirely to the customers, thereby 'sidestepping the institutional lapse.' He underscored that fraud monitoring, one-time passwords (OTPs), and account limits are in place precisely because scams are a daily occurrence. When these defenses are breached, blaming the victim is not only unfair but also irresponsible.

Samaniego urged BDO to publicly verify the daily transaction limit of the complainant's account and to provide an explanation for how the limit was breached. On Tuesday, BDO responded to the viral post, asserting that such fraud cases are often related to social engineering and familiar fraud, while maintaining that the company's systems remain secure and that 'fraudsters continue to exploit trust and familiarity to trick customers.'