BSP cautions vs identity theft

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has cautioned consumers against identity theft amid rising incidents of cyber attacks in the country.

The BSP, through the Financial Consumer Protection Department of the Supervision and Examination Sector (SES), has issued an advisory on how to deal with identity theft.

Identity theft or stealing of personal information to commit fraud is a crime that could seriously undermine a person’s finances, credit history and reputation.

“Increasing public awareness on frauds such as identity theft is an essential component of the BSP’s financial consumer protection agenda. A well-informed citizenry is essential to maintaining financial stability, which is a key policy objective of the BSP,” the central bank said.

The BSP is advising the public to change their passwords, security questions relating to their personal information, ATM and online access if they think their personal information has been compromised.

Likewise, the BSP also urged victims of identity theft to immediately contact their creditors and financial institutions if their personal information were used without their consent.

Victims who discover that accounts have been created under their names without their knowledge should also immediately inform their creditors and banks.

Furthermore, the BSP said victims of identity theft should file a complaint before the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“The victims should likewise file a complaint before the PNP- Anti-Cybercrime Group or the NBI Cybercrime Division and keep a copy of the police report. Said report may be needed for the investigation of the identity theft,” the BSP said.

The bank regulator pointed out financial consumers should cooperate with banks by providing additional information to improve the security of their accounts and to actively safeguard personal information protect themselves from identity theft,” the central bank said.

BSP deputy governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. earlier said the bank regulator is now working on supplemental or additional regulations to further strengthen and increase the level of maturity of Philippine banks and other financial institutions.

“Financial institutions everywhere are routinely being attacked by cyber criminals. So the important thing is the quality of the cyber crime prevention programs that is why we are trying to strengthen the defenses. The best thing to do now is to make the system strong to prevent breaches,” he said.

Last February, hackers attempted to steal $1 billion from the accounts of the Bangladesh Bank at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York through fake SWIFT messages.