UnionBank supports Scam Watch Pilipinas to warn customers ‘Don’t Click The Link’ last December

Union Bank of the Philippines joined the #HolidayWatchPH anti-scam awareness campaign of Scam Watch Pilipinas and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) last December to warn their customers against the 12 Scams of Christmas.

UnionBank Chief Information Security Officer Joey Rufo reiterated his call for their customers ‘Not To Click Links’ since most online frauds to watch out for this Holiday season issued by Scam Watch Pilipinas are phishing scams.

“We urged not only our customers but also the public not to click the link in messages they received from SMS, Messenger, emails and even social media posts from untrusted source .” Rufo said.

The #HolidayWatchPH campaign is the anti-scam awareness campaign to educate Filipinos against the list of the most common online scams being perpetuated by cyber criminals every Christmas season called 12 Scams of Christmas.

The 12 Scams of Christmas are fake shipping and delivery notifications, fake online charity scams, fake shopping websites, fake online sellers, free trial scams, fake Christmas gift card scams, tech support scams, crypto investment scams, fake relative/friend scams, dating scams, foreign exchange investment scams, and loan scams.

Rufo said that the #HolidayWatchPH campaign can expand the reach of their cybersecurity awareness program called Cybersure. “By collaborating with Scam Watch Pilipinas and CICC, we are expanding the reach of our anti-scam awareness efforts by going beyond our usual bank channels,” he added.

Scam Watch Pilipinas co-founder and lead convenor Jocel de Guzman acknowledged that UnionBank were the first company in the Philippines to advocate ‘Don’t Click The Link’ in 2021.

“UnionBank launched its ‘Don’t Click The Link’ campaign in December 2021 way before the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) released their Memorandum Circulars of disallowing banks and telcos to remove links from their email and SMS marketing,” De Guzman revealed.

In March 2022, the BSP issued Memorandum No. M-2022-015 mandating banks to remove clickable links in emails and SMS sent to retail customers and to conduct regular customer education campaigns against online scams and phishing schemes.