Things Filipinos Do After Falling Victim to a Digital Scam or Fraud

After realizing that one has fallen victim to an online financial scam, experts’ first advice is to call the bank or service company that the money was sent through.

Notifying the proper institutions promptly is crucial to hopefully get the funds back, avoid further losses and protect oneself from repeat incidents.

In a survey commissioned by Kaspersky on digital payment systems among Southeast Asian users, Filipino respondents showed certain preferences in such a situation.

For 65% of those who participated in the survey, they said changing the passwords on their bank/digital wallet accounts and apps was top of the list.

On the other hand, half (51%) of surveyed Filipino victims of online scammers and fraudsters admitted that informing their family and friends of what happened was what they did before anything else.

Meanwhile, 43% said contacting their bank or financial service company to report the incident was their immediate course of action.

In a country where cash is still king, the recurrent lockdown measures have prompted Filipinos to rely on mobile payment apps and digital wallets for their daily financial transactions.

In the same survey, 54% of Filipino respondents appear to be somewhat confident that electronic banking and e-wallet platforms are very secure that they use these services at least several times a week.

According to local survey participants, they choose digital payments to transfer money to family and friends, pay for utilities, and shop online, in that order.

“We can glean from this data that Filipinos draw strength from their family during a crisis, particularly where there’s the potential loss of money. This may explain why they make calls to their families and friends before anything else rather than swiftly report their circumstance to the proper authorities,” said Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.

“Unfortunately, the likelihood of failing to claim the funds back plus a heightened emotional stress would be higher in this scenario because of the delay in seeking help from financial institutions,” he cautions.

“This is where prevention is essential. The detection of a scam or fraud early on in the transaction means less headache for you and your family and your hard-earned money stays intact,” Yeo adds.

Apart from using a strong password, enabling all security features of the device and apps, and keeping an eye on red flags, Yeo said practicing good cyber hygiene includes considering dependable software protection even before an unfortunate event takes place and not after encountering an incident.

Kaspersky Total Security (KTS) is among the solutions available in the market today. This is Kaspersky’s premium product that offers complete, family-oriented defense against cyberthreats.

KTS is bundled with a virtual private network (VPN) so you are assured that your online actions are not logged and hackers are prevented from reading your emails, photos, and bank details. It has a Password Manager that generates strong passwords for you and will help you track multiple passwords which are all secured in a private vault, away from the prying eyes of cybercriminals.

The Safe Money feature of KTS is exactly what regular users of financial services would find beneficial as it protects one’s money, identity, and privacy.

With a KTS installed in a device, payments are made via an encrypted browser so that financial data is not intercepted by hackers while you shop and bank online. It also comes with an extra security feature for locking Android apps and locating Android mobile devices.

It has an Anti-Hacking capability that prevents unauthorized access and hijacking of your Android device and suspicious activities are blocked instantly. It has a Malicious Link Detector that analyzes links on web pages you open and alerts you of the malicious web address based on their threat level. The advanced Anti-Malware feature of KTS neutralizes threats including spyware, adware, keyloggers, spear-phishing, and hard-to-detect fileless attacks.

Kaspersky Total Security is compatible with PC and Mac computers as well as iOS and Android devices. It retails for P1,390 for a one-year license for one device. KTS is currently available in all leading IT stores nationwide, including Lazada and Shopee.

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