One-stop shop for online lending victims launched

MANILA, Philippines —  The increasing number of complaints about abusive online lending platforms (OLPs) has prompted government agencies, led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Committee (PAOCC), to create a one-stop shop for victims.

PAOCC yesterday launched the initiative in collaboration with the Department of Justice, Philippine National Police (PNP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Since April, PAOCC has received over 13,000 reports of unauthorized OLPs charging exorbitant fees and engaging in harassment.

“We don’t want complainants to have a difficult time going to the PNP, to the SEC and to the NTC. So here at the one-stop shop, we will be the ones processing their complaints,” PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz told The STAR.

Cruz said the backlog of reports received by PAOCC before the project launching would be evaluated starting this week.

The commission will investigate whether some OLPs are linked to “remnants” of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), he said.

According to Cruz, since the POGO ban took effect in January, former employees of scam hubs have turned to loan scams and other illegal activities.

Cruz explained that scammers typically follow five steps to harass victims, including threats to contact relatives, filing complaints with the barangay and, worse, issuing death threats.

“We created this one-stop shop to help online lending victims who resorted to debt to resolve their woes, but which produced  other problems,” Cruz said.

Around 100 complainants flocked to the PAOCC main office in Pasay yesterday.

According to Cruz, one group disclosed that five of its members committed suicide due to the harassment they endured from online lending firms.

SEC chief counsel Sherwin Guzon said Filipinos should be cautious about the apps they download since the regulatory body imposed a moratorium on new OLPs in 2021.

Guzon admitted that unregistered OLPs still appear on app stores.

“But once an unregistered OLP is reported to us, we will coordinate with Google Play Store and Apple App Store to remove the app so its services won’t be offered to the public,” he said.

Guzon admitted that not a single person has been found guilty of violating the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act of 2022.