BSP starts probe into 'Mark Nagoyo' unauthorized bank transfers

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has started an investigation into the unauthorized transfers from BDO Unibank Inc. accounts to accounts under the name of "Mark Nagoyo," a BSP official said on Tuesday.

Interviewed on GMA News' Unang Balita, BSP Technology Risk and Innovation Supervision Director Melchor Plabasan said they are validating the claims of the concerned bank.

“Nag-start na po kami ng investigation. Una-una  naming ginawa, siyempre iva-validate namin 'yung claim ng bangkong involved dito,” he said.

(We already started the investigation. First, of course, we will validate the claim of the bank involved.)

According to Plabasan, the bank president said that the incident has something to do with a web service that is due for retirement in 2022.

“Yun po yung tutuntunin namin kung may iba pang rason kung bakit nga na-compromise 'yung ibang accounts ng client ng bangkong ito,” he added.

(That’s what we are looking into, if there are other reasons why the accounts of bank clients were compromised.)

Victims have reported unauthorized withdrawals made from their BDO accounts and transferred to the accounts of a certain "Mark Nagoyo" with Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP). The funds supposedly duped from BDO account holders were reportedly then transferred to such accounts to acquire cryptocurrencies.

The BSP official added that Instapay transfers only validate account numbers and not account names.

According to Plabasan, concerned banks are not yet free from accountability in the incident. He said the investigation by the task force will be finished in 30 days.

On Sunday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said they are closely looking at the issue of data breach involving certain BDO Unibank Inc. accounts.

They are also coordinating with its stakeholders for the reimbursement of the reported unauthorized bank transfers, he added.

“The BSP has been monitoring the surge in complaints posted in social media platforms since the early part of this week,” he said.

“We are in close coordination with BDO as well as UBP on this incident to ensure that remedial measures are being undertaken, including reimbursement of affected consumers,” he added.

BDO said over the weekend it will reimburse losses of the affected clients.

“We thank our clients for their patience and cooperation in protecting their online bank accounts. We assure our affected innocent clients that we will reimburse their losses,” it said.

GMA News Online has reached out to the UBP for comment, but the firm said it is still verifying the reports.

Clients of BDO who lost their funds to unauthorized bank transfers meanwhile are wondering when they would get their money back as Christmas draws near.

Bankers Association of the Philippines president Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso over the weekend called on the public to be more vigilant against cyberattacks, and refrain from giving out sensitive information which could lead to their accounts being compromised. —KG, GMA News

Erratum: GMA News Online regrets the error made in the first version of this article saying Mr. Plabasan said an inside job was being considered in the incident. We have corrected the article. We apologize to the BSP and our readers for the error.