By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
MANILA – Internet watchdog Scam Watch Pilipinas (Scam Watch) has slammed the response of local bank BDO Unibank (BDO) on the viral case of unauthorized bank transactions for being “incomplete” and “unfair to depositors.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Scam Watch co-founder Art Samaniego said BDO’s response to a viral social media post “misses” the core issue, particularly in its emphasis on social engineering and familial fraud.
“It leaves unanswered the most crucial question depositors are asking —how were the bank’s own security limits bypassed?” Samaniego said.
He said banks have daily withdrawal and transfer caps for each customer to act as “circuit breakers” in case of fraud.
“If PHP189,000 was withdrawn from an account with a PHP50,000 cap, that means safeguards failed. Customers cannot override these restrictions. If they were crossed, the compromise happened within the bank’s systems, not on the customer’s device,” he added.
Samaniego said BDO’s advisory shifts responsibility entirely to the customers while “sidestepping the institutional lapse.”
“Fraud monitoring, OTPs, and account limits exist precisely because scams happen every day. When these defenses are breached, blaming the victim is not only unfair —it is irresponsible,” he said.
Samaniego called on BDO to publicly verify the daily transaction limit of the complainant’s account and to explain how the limit was breached.
On Tuesday, BDO responded to a viral post circulating on social media involving a BDO client, stating that such fraud cases are often linked to social engineering and familiar fraud.
It said the company’s systems remain secure and “fraudsters continue to exploit trust and familiarity to trick customers.” (PNA)
