Globe welcomes President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s recent signing of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA), seen to address prevalent online scams through more robust deterrence and enforcement measures.
The law aims to “protect all persons from falling prey to the various cybercrime schemes by regulating the use of financial accounts, and preventing their use in fraudulent activities.”
Globe believes this law will complement the Cybercrime Prevention Act and the SIM Registration Act, strengthening security measures against ever evolving scam tactics by fraudsters.
“As a service provider that deals with fraudsters every day, Globe is grateful that the Philippines now has a law that is up to date and addresses fast-evolving threats to the security of our financial system,” said Ernest Cu, Globe President and CEO.
“We especially appreciate how the law covers in great detail various emerging fraud methods, including the recruitment of money mules, social engineering schemes, and other modes assisted by tech, including SMS, email, and even generative AI. This ultimately gives regulators and law enforcers sharper teeth in stopping financial fraud,” he added.
He said the law will serve to reinforce Globe’s ongoing efforts against financial fraud, including proactive blocking of person-to-person SMS and bank-related phishing and vishing.
In the first half of the year, Globe blocked over 2.74 million bank-related spam and scam messages, a decline of 43.56% compared to the 4.85 million messages blocked in the same period of 2023. This reflects how Globe’s collaboration with banks and other financial institutions to curb financial fraud has been working.
Cu reaffirmed Globe’s commitment to stringent monitoring and blocking of potential financial fraud in its network.
“Globe will remain a staunch ally of the government and financial institutions in beating fraud. Through the passage of AFASA, we look forward to a safer financial environment for our customers and the public,” he said.
AFASA mandates banks and other financial institutions to implement stringent security measures and robust fraud management systems to protect financial accounts.
It empowers the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to thoroughly investigate and scrutinize financial accounts potentially involved in illicit activities. It also authorizes the BSP to apply for cybercrime warrants for electronic communications implicated in violations of this law, effectively bypassing the usual constraints imposed by bank secrecy and data privacy regulations.
The law penalizes financial fraud schemes with heavier penalties, including imprisonment of 6 to 8 years and fines of up to Php 500,000 for money mule schemes; prison time of 10 to 12 years or fines of up to Php 1 million for social engineering schemes; and life imprisonment or fines of up to Php 5 million for economic sabotage. (PR)
