Dear PAO,

I am a senior citizen who recently contracted an auto loan from a bank in Makati City. The account related to my auto loan was enrolled in an auto-debit arrangement. Just two months after my auto loan was perfected, an anonymous caller reached out to me and introduced himself as an employee of the loan department of the concerned bank. He reminded me of my upcoming amortization and claimed that the initial payment that I made was not processed. He then offered help to fix my account to avoid similar inconveniences and waive the penalty and surcharge that I incurred due to the delay in the payment of my amortization. Consequently, I immediately gave him my account number, complete name, enrolled email and password relative to my online banking account. It was already late when I realized that the said person might have scammed me. May I ask who has the authority to investigate this incident and whether I can file a criminal case against said person?

Danica

Dear Danica,

The answer to your query is found in Republic Act (RA) 12010 or the “Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).” Section 12 of the said law provides:

“Section 12. Investigation and Inquiry into Financial Accounts. – The BSP shall have the authority to investigate and inquire into Financial Accounts which may be involved in the commission of a prohibited act or offense under Sections 4 and 5 hereof. The provisions of Republic Act No. 1405, as amended; Republic Act No. 6426, as amended; Republic Act No. 8367; and Republic Act No. 10173 shall not apply to Financial Accounts subject of BSP’s investigation. Xxx.”

In relation to this, Section 4 thereof provides the following financial account scamming act, thus:

“Section 4. Prohibited Acts. – The following acts shall constitute Financial Account scamming under this Act: xxx

“(b) Social Engineering Schemes. – A social engineering scheme is committed by a person who obtains sensitive identifying information of another person, through deception or fraud, resulting in unauthorized access and control over the person’s Financial Account, by performing any of the following acts:

“(1) Misrepresenting oneself as acting on behalf of an Institution, or making false representations to solicit another person’s sensitive identifying information; or

Xxx”

Further, the violation thereof provides for penalties pursuant to Section 16 of the said law, which provides that:

“Section 16. Penalties. – xxx

“(b) A person found guilty of any of the prohibited acts enumerated under Section 4(b) shall be penalized with imprisonment of not less than ten (10) years but not more than twelve (12) years, or a fine of at least Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) but not exceeding One million pesos (P1,000,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court: Provided, That the penalty of not less than twelve (12) years but not more than fourteen (14) years of imprisonment, or a fine of at least One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) but not more exceeding Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court, shall be imposed if the target or victim of the acts enumerated in Section 4(b) is a senior citizen at the time the offense was committed.”

Based on the foregoing, the act of the anonymous caller in misrepresenting himself as acting on behalf of an institution or the bank or making false representations to solicit your sensitive identifying information such as your account number, name, email, and password, which resulted in unauthorized access and control over your financial account is a clear violation of the AFASA law in relation to Social Engineering Scheme. It is the BSP that has the power to investigate said incident. Since you are a senior citizen, the violation thereof comes with the corresponding stiffer penalty of not less than 12 years but not more than 14 years of imprisonment and/or a fine of P1 million to P2 million.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]