The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) aims to put an end to online financial scams by Christmas to protect consumers who will use credit cards and the internet for their holiday shopping.
Speaking at a Palace press briefing yesterday, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda noted that the usage of credit cards and online payments is high during the Christmas season.
‘The directive of the President to us, since Christmas is approaching, he said, ‘Can online financial scams be eliminated by Christmas?’ So we cooperated with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance,’ Aguda said, adding that telcos have signed up for the effort.
‘Our aspiration is, if we conduct transactions online this Christmas – when the usage of credit cards and online payment is high – we would be confident,’ he said. ‘As the President said, this Christmas, we hope all who will transact through digital infrastructure will be safe and the scams will be eliminated.’
Aguda said telecommunication firms have removed the 3G signal, which is not secure and is prone to interception by those who pose as banks and government agencies. Efforts are also underway to remove the 2G signal, he added.
‘I told the telcos, if you cannot really remove the 2G for now, at least, you should replace the 2G in malls, where many use online payment and credit cards,’ Aguda said.