Congress to Probe Gcash Hacked Accounts

GCASH STATEMENTS INCONSISTENT, CONGRESSIONAL PROBE NECESSARY

A congressional probe has been called for by the filing of House Resolution 963 due to inconsistencies in the statements issued by GCash and other financial institutions involved in the recent unauthorized withdrawals from GCash accounts.

The resolution was filed as a result of dissatisfaction with the announcements, advisories, and statements coming from the financial institutions involved. The internal investigations being conducted by these institutions have not been directly responsive to the concerns of the affected GCash accountholders, the banking public, and the general public.

GCash initially stated that there was no hacking and that no cash was missing or stolen from accountholders. However, reports from accountholders themselves show the exact amount of unauthorized withdrawals and transfers from their accounts.

Hours later, reporting by the Philippine Daily Inquirer revealed that there was indeed hacking and up to P37 million in funds were transferred to two bank accounts, one with EastWest Bank and another with Asia United Bank.

GCash has since reversed the transactions and restored the amounts to the affected accounts. However, this does not address the mental anguish and disruption to the lives and businesses of the accountholders. Apologies are not enough and there should be commensurate restitution for the harm caused.

A congressional probe is necessary to investigate these inconsistencies and to hear from other parties such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the NBI Cybercrime. Electronic trails and physical locations must be traced to get to the bottom of this issue.