Philippines expands anti-fraud drive as cyber scam exposure stays high

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Philippines expands anti-fraud drive

Highlights

Scammers reach about eight in every 10 Filipinos, with the Philippines now identified as an ASEAN cyber fraud hotspot per Global Anti-Scam Alliance data.
The Scam Ready ASEAN Program, targeting one million Philippine beneficiaries and localized for domestic relevance, launches between December and January next year.
The BSP reports broad compliance among banks with enhanced fraud management by the June 25 deadline, following implementation of AFASA rules and multi-agency enforcement agreements.

Regional scam trends and Philippine rollout

As reported by BusinessWorld, citing the ASEAN Foundation, the Philippines is among Southeast Asia's cyber fraud hotspots as scam centers spread beyond earlier concentrations near the Cambodia-Thailand and Cambodia-Vietnam borders. ASEAN Foundation Executive Director Piti Srisangnam says recent shifts in scam activity now include Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor-Leste, following military operations over the past one or two years.

Srisangnam, citing a Global Anti-Scam Alliance study, says scammers reach about eight in every 10 Filipinos, a level he says is also seen in other countries in the region. He identifies high-yield investment scams as the most common cyber fraud type in ASEAN, including schemes linked to cryptocurrencies and other financial instruments that promise unusually high returns.

Love scams and impersonation scams involving people posing as relatives also rank among the leading fraud threats in the region. Against that backdrop, the Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines, together with the ASEAN Foundation, Google and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, launches the Philippine leg of the Scam Ready ASEAN Program.

The ASEAN-wide initiative was first launched on April 28 in Kuala Lumpur and aims to help three million people across the region through a network of 2,000 master trainers. As of the briefing, the program has 105 master trainers, while Philippine organizers target about one million beneficiaries through a localized rollout that starts in schools and is expected to be fully released between December and January next year.

Banking sector response and regulatory enforcement

Philippine organizers say the local version is being adapted to make the training more relevant for domestic users, including through a localized version of the Scam Ready interactive game. BMAP officials say the program plans to reach senior citizens, teachers, farmers, fisherfolks and overseas Filipino workers, broadening its audience beyond traditional banking customers.

BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat says fighting scams requires action and collaboration beyond awareness campaigns alone. She says consumer protection is a shared responsibility and adds that stronger safeguards are needed to protect Filipinos, their savings and trust in the financial system.

At the same launch, BSP Consumer Account Protection Office Director Alain Bert G. Regis says the central bank has signed an information-sharing agreement with the Philippine National Police for cases tied to the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act. The PNP becomes the fifth government agency with an AFASA deal, following similar agreements with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, the Securities and Exchange Commission in February, and the Department of Justice in July.

Last year, the BSP issued AFASA's implementing rules and gave banks until June 25 of this year to strengthen fraud management systems. The central bank previously warns that non-compliance could lead to license suspension, but later says banks and other financial institutions are broadly compliant as of the deadline.

BSP interest-rate hike expectations amid surging inflation were the focus of our earlier coverage, as analysts flagged rising price pressures and higher global oil costs ahead of the central bank’s policy meeting. That article also highlighted concerns about the peso’s volatility and the view that tighter monetary policy may be needed to keep inflation expectations anchored.

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