P5 million fine, imprisonment vs cyber criminals proposed

(PHILSTAR) MANILA, Philippines — After reports of alleged cybertheft attempts on the users of e-wallet GCash this week, a senator has proposed imposing penalties to the tune of P5 million and imprisonment against those behind similar cybercrime schemes.

Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has filed Senate Bill No. 2171, or the proposed Bank Accounts, Electronic Wallets, and Other Financial Accounts Regulation Act, which would empower government and financial regulators to better protect Filipinos using electronic wallets and other digital financial services.

“If authorities can locate those behind the hacking, unauthorized transactions, scams and other schemes using the internet or mobile banking, there should be a corresponding punishment of imprisonment and a hefty fine against them,” Estrada said in Filipino.

Estrada added that the measure would help government reassure the public about the safety of their digital transactions and ensure that stolen funds are eventually returned to their accounts.  

Under the bill, those behind “large-scale offenses” or the use of a mass mailer to gain unauthorized access to e-wallets will be punished with life imprisonment and fines ranging from P1 million to P5 million.

The measure considers an act to be committed by a syndicate if it is carried out by “a group of three or more persons conspiring with one another.” Meanwhile, those considered large-scale are “acts against three or more persons individually or as a group.”

The bill also seeks to prohibit money mules, social engineering schemes and acts abetting in the commission of the covered offenses.

The measure qualifies a “money mule” as those that transfer illegally acquired money on behalf of someone else through an e-wallet or other financial account, while “social engineering schemes” include, among others, phishing scams or duplicitous messages that lead one to give away their sensitive information.  

Estrada said that those found guilty of money mule will be meted with imprisonment or prision correccional or a fine of P100,000 to P200,000. 

Meanwhile, those who performed social engineering schemes will be punished with prision mayor or a fine of P200,000 to P500,000, Estrada said.

In the lower chamber, a lawmaker has also called for a House probe to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the apparent cybertheft incident experienced by GCash users.

A representative of GCash said on Tuesday that there was “no fund loss” in the wake of the incident, with money having already been returned to the accounts of those who experienced unauthorized deductions by afternoon. Cristina Chi

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

one × 4 =