How to Avoid GCASH Scams

Cashless transactions are now part of the norm especially since minimal contact is being observed in all establishments. But even before the pandemic e-wallets like GCash are already widely used for daily spending. The young crowd primarily uses it for shopping and dining but GCaah can also be used for bills payment, sending or receiving money, and savings. This e-wallet has security and customer protect features to ensure that your account and transactions are safe. However, there are scammers victimizing GCash users that you should watch out for.

GCash has several security and protection levels to ensure that their users are able to enjoy the convenience of cashless transactions without worries. With your account being secured by GCash security protocols the scammers will try to get your money by scamming you. Here are some of the things that you can do to avoid these scams.

1. Don’t reveal your personal data, MPIN, password, and CVV to anyone. This information can be used to access your account and should never be revealed to anyone. GCash scammers can be very creative in trying to get these data from you. The most common modus it to pretend to be a GCash employee or representative doing service calls. Examples of this modus are:

GCash Survey Modus. Scammers pretending to be GCash employees will ask you to participate in a survey. Aside from personal data, they will also ask you for your PIN (Personal Identification Number) or OTP (One Time Password) or CVV card number. Giving them this information is like giving them a key to your account.

Service Charge Refund Modus. Scammers pretending to be GCash Representatives will offer a refund for the 2% service fee on cash-in transactions. The catch is they will ask for your MPIN, ITP, or CVV to process the refund.

Account Assistance Modus. Bogus GCash representative will contact you to offer assistance in addressing legitimate or sometimes even cooked-up concerns. The end goal is always the same, that is getting your MPIN, OTP, or CVV. The three most important data that you should only keep to yourself.

2. Validate SMS/e-mail sender and web pages before responding to GCash. There is such a thing called spoofing wherein scammers are able to imitate or spoof SMS sender ID of companies or apps like GCash as well as Facebook pages. As such one must be careful in responding to messages or chatting with customer service reps in fake pages.

2882 Spoof. One spoofing example is the use of the 2882 number of GCash. Remember that GCash messages from these numbers are merely notification messages and will never ask you for you MPIN, OTP, and CVV.

Recruitment Scam Using GCash. There are fake recruitment pages that offer fake job placements. In this modus victims are asked to pay a cash bond or placement fee using GCash. They will then disappear once they get your money. Always check the validity of the webpage before transacting online.

3. Check before you click. Links embedded in messages and even videos are notorious phishing tools. They are used by hackers to get access to your account without you being aware of it. We have seen this happen in social media accounts wherein phishing links were embedded in holiday messages. In the case of GCash make sure that the message and link came from an official GCash site.

4. Stick to official channels. Given that there are fake sites and fake reps, make sure that you communicate or transact through GCash official Channels only.

Cash In and Cash Out Services Modus. In this scheme, scammers are offering cash in and cash-out services to GCash users. Remember that GCash has official partners for cash in or out services and they are the only ones authorized to process such transactions. To protect your account, don’t entertain offers from non-accredited individuals or groups.

5. Report Suspicious Transactions. You can help in stopping scammers from victimizing more people by reporting suspicious transactions immediately. GCash takes these reports seriously and conducts its own investigation. They also work hand in hand with the NBI in catching GCash scammers. Recently the NBI nabbed 3 GCash scammers with the help of information given by GCash.

Cybersecurity is important to GCash which is why it has several layers of security in the app. GCash users should also be responsible for cybersecurity on their end. One way to do that is to follow the tips mentioned above and be aware of the scams.

For the peace of mind of GCash users, GCash added a Customer Protection Program in their product. Its intelligent risk management feature is designed to help detect and prevent fraudulent activities. Qualified users are also eligible for compensation for unauthorized transactions in case of identity theft or loss of mobile phone.

The amount of compensation depends on the validation level of users. Fully verified users can be compensated for up to Php100,000.