An Insight on a Current Event: DepEd tells Teachers with banking issues

Gabriel Pabico Lalu, an Inquirer.net reporter, stated on January 24, 2022, that the Department of Education was calling teachers regarding banking issues in Manila, Philippines.  This alerted Landbank of the Philippines and addressed their concerns to divisional offices.  According to the Department of Education's statement on Monday, the department first found the issue after reading online articles about it brought by the Teachers' Dignity Coalition.  Some teachers claimed to have lost between 26,000 and 121,000 pesos from their payroll accounts with the bank.

Conversely, the Landbank asserted to the Department of Education that the issue of unauthorized withdrawals is given utmost attention.  DepEd added that they enjoined all personnel to inform their respective Divisions immediately and reported any issues to their nearest Landbank branches.  One of the victims received a one-time password verification 13 times last November 12, 2021. He then reported these incidents to the branch.  However, the next day, he discovered that 121,000 pesos had been withdrawn from his account and moved to a digital wallet account.

On December 30, another instructor lost around P84,815 when the money was similarly moved to a digital wallet account and another bank account.  Teacher Development Centre feels Landbank should be held responsible for the loss of funds as well.  But withstand, Landbank assured that their systems are safe and secured.  As the investigation goes, it is found out that teachers’ device and their personal information were compromised due to phishing.  This is a scheme where hackers pose as if they are legitimate banking representatives, obtaining confidential details about bank accounts.

On the contrary, informed clients that their official representatives would not request sensitive information about their bank accounts.  Furthermore, the bank warns the public to be wary of phishing schemes and other forms of online banking fraud.  Landbank recommends that clients avoid opening suspicious emails, links, and attachments, as well as sharing an account and personal information.  Also, the bank stressed that official Landbank representatives would never ask for the critical financial information of customers.

Because frauds are nothing new on the internet, phishing is more difficult to detect than you may imagine.  On the other hand, I should prevent that from happening such that more criminals turn towards online scams to steal personal information.  It should be noted that we learn to dodge spam emails, for phishing emails look deceivingly credible.  Finally, always examine sources and verify accounts before engaging in various online transactions.  Notably, believing in the statement, "Think before you click,” is true, for it could result in a range of positive and negative outcomes.