GCash users raise howl over lost funds; e-wallet says it's correcting errors

Several customers of e-wallet GCash on Saturday raised a howl on social media over thousands of pesos lost to what appeared to be unauthorized transactions.

Among the GCash users who complained about unauthorized transactions was Kapuso comedienne Pokwang. In an Instagram post, she said almost 30 unregistered cellphone numbers claimed her money.

"Ano nangyare sa registered SIM policy ngayon (What happened to the registered SIM policy)?" asked Pokwang, referring to Republic Act 11934 or the SIM Registration Act that was passed to reduce cybercrimes.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Marietta Subong (@itspokwang27)

 

In Darlene Cay’s ''24 Oras Weekend'' report, Pokwang said she lost P85,000 in her GCash account, which she uses for her food business.

“Yung anak ko humahawak ng GCash. Lahat ng payment doon sa negosyo, doon pumapasok lahat. Pag gising ng anak ko may mga sunod-sunod na transactions na successful. Tumawag sa akin. Pag check niya P3,000 na lang yung natira.)

“Sana lang magkaroon ng protection yung mga tao ngayon. Sana makaisip sila ng magandang way para maproteksyunan lalo na yung mga maliliit na negosyo gaya ko na hindi naman kami malalaking negosyante, nagsisimula palang, nakakaiyak lang,” she added.  

(My daughter is managing our GCash account. All the payment in our business goes in there. When my daughter woke up, she received notifications about consecutive successful transactions. Then, she called me and said when she checked, only P3,000 was left in our GCash account. I hope there’s a way to protect the public, especially small businesses like us. It’s frustrating since we’re just starting our business.)

Rolando Tubo Jr. said he lost P90,000 in just one minute.

“So around 12 (p.m.) lagi ko chinecheck ng ganung oras. Una kong nakita, nawala lahat ng sales (I always check my GCash around 12 p.m. The first thing I saw is that all of my sales were gone.)

In Tubo’s transaction history, his funds were sent more than 40 times, with two numbers claiming P1,000 each.

“Nakalampag ako. Alam kong huwag kang pipindot ng link, wag kang mag sesend ng OTP kung kani-kanino,” Tubo said.

(I was caught off guard. I know that I should not click links and send OTP to random people.)

Only P20 was left in Tubo’s GCash account.

He immediately reported the incident to GCash and Muntinlupa Police.

College student Princess Joanna Lee was also caught off guard when she noticed her GCash funds were gone.

She said she tried calling the number but it was out of coverage.

In a Facebook post, Kathleen Nodalo shared she lost P10,000 in her GCash account, where P1,000 was sent to different numbers.

“Naibalik na din po ni GCash. As of 5:07 (p.m.) naibalik na po yung 10K ko,” Nodalo told GMA News Online.

(As of 5:07 p.m., GCash returned my P10,000.)

Digital advocacy group Digital Pinoys on Saturday afternoon called on GCash to immediately return the lost funds to its customers.

"This issue has been long running and it seems that despite previous complaints, it has remained unresolved. This is alarming for consumers who put their trust on e-wallet providers to secure their funds. The funds lost due to unauthorized transactions should be returned immediately," Digital Pinoys national campaigner Ronald Gustilo said.

He also urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology to investigate and impose penalties on GCash if found guilty of negligence.

"E-wallet platforms do not provide the same security as banks. Consumers should not store huge amounts of money in their e-wallet accounts as the funds are not insured, unlike those in banks," Gustilo said.

The DICT said in the 24 Oras Weekend report that it was investigating the matter.

Process 'errors'

For its part, mobile wallet GCash on Saturday said it was addressing the process errors that affected a "few" users even as screenshots of supposed unauthorized transactions on the e-wallet platform made the rounds on social media.

"A few GCash users were affected due to errors in an ongoing system reconciliation process. This incident was isolated to a few users, and we assure our customers that their accounts are safe," GCash said in a statement.

"We have identified and reached out to affected accounts. Wallet adjustments are ongoing," it added. — VDV/VBL, GMA Integrated News