Now that the Christmas season is coming, scams in digital transactions are becoming more rampant. This is why banks are pushing for the mandatory phone registration more than ever.

According to the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), mandatory registration of mobile phones will decrease cybercrimes such as fraud and identity theft.

Ramon Jocson, vice-chairperson of BAP cybersecurity committee, said that they are having a hard time catching scammers as most of the devices on their system are anonymous. With this, fraud cases are just impossible to track.

As such, BAP is expressing its support for the government’s national identification (ID) system. “If both of [those] are established, at least you’re assured that everybody participating in [the] system is a trusted entity.”

Jocson said scammers are targeting not just large firms, but small firms as well through phishing, identity theft, and even ransomware attacks. Of all these acts, phishing is the most common, where scammers send emails pretending to be from a reputable company and inducing individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) is reminding the public to be more vigilant as transactions are becoming more convenient and therefore easier to manipulate as well. They further added that criminals are no longer targeting automated teller machines or ATMs, they are now hacking digital transactions as it is far more convenient and easier.