By Aian Guanzon

Scammers and scam incidents are on the rise, especially in recent months, said Global Dominion Customer Service Head Sarah Tabing. The observed increase in reported online lending scams was seconded by other financing companies like SAFC, Global Cebuana, Cycle Financing, and Cebuana Cycle.

The common malicious scheme starts with someone pretending to be a representative of a lending or financing company and encouraging financial consumers to process a loan application online with his help. This is then followed by a collection of an application fee, or in some cases, multiple application fees, which scammers claim to be for the ‘evaluation of their applications.’ This is where financial consumers get negatively impacted, since money is collected from them, after starting their online lending journey to get access to credit for various purposes.

Dragonpay believes that the absence of a formal payment gateway and/or platform in some online lending companies, combined with the public’s lack of awareness of various malicious schemes online, contribute to the increasing number of scam cases.

“We believe that an inter-organizational or industry-wide approach is necessary to fight these scammers,” shared Global Dominion COO Melai Felicidario, who later helped form a gathering of companies from the lending and financing industry through the #WagMagpaloko campaign. Its core members include the vehicle mortgage loan and financing providers SAFC and Global Dominion, motorcycle mortgage loan provider Cycle Financing, OFW loan provider Global Cebuana, motorcycle financing provider Cebuana Cycle, and payment gateway provider Dragonpay. These companies met to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to share best practices when it comes to handling scams and continue to help in improving the awareness of the public about various online and offline scamming schemes.

In the photo (from left to right) are Mayjara Lamarca, Joy Pacheco, and Desiree Delacruz from Global Cebuana Finance; Jethro Penamante and Manny Duculan from Cycle Financing; Melai Felicidario and Sarah Tabing from Global Dominion Financing; Caezar Ian Monzon and Russel Co from Dragonpay; Seve Linis from SAFC; and Edizon Austria, Rossel De Vera, and Branderson Bedruz from Cebuana Cycle Financing.

Jerwayne Corsino, COO of SAFC, reminds the public to be more vigilant when dealing with people online, especially when they demand money before any formal transactions are completed. “It’s important to research any financial product or service thoroughly and make sure you’re dealing with an official employee or representative of a legitimate company before making any payments, if required,” Mr. Corsino advises. He adds, “In SAFC’s case, we don’t collect application fees just for a customer to begin their loan application journey.” This serves as a reminder that legitimate companies won’t ask for upfront fees without delivering real services in return.

“Our platform helps both lending companies and financial consumers better manage scam-related risks by ensuring we have proper screening of organizations,” Dragonpay Head of Operations Caezar Ian Monzon said during a side interview at the group’s MoU signing.

Online-related scams may be reported to the official communication channels of the finance companies, or to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC) under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Complex cases, especially those involving financial fraud may be reported to the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) Cybercrime Division.

The pioneers of the #WagMagpaloko campaign hope to enjoin more finance companies to the fight against scammers. “It is in joining campaigns like this [#WagMagpaloko] that I think players in the industry help each other better,” said SAFC Head of Digital and Process Innovation Seve Linis.

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