A DAVAO City Councilor has filed a resolution to monitor phishing sites that target debit and credit card information.

Councilor Bon Andre Militar, chairperson of the committee on information technology, said during the 14th regular session of the 20th City Council on October 11, 2022 that the resolution urges "the internet service providers to coordinate with the PNP (Philippine National Police) cybercrime unit department of information and communications technology (DICT) and other related agencies, to monitor and block phishing sites."

Militar said phishing is a form of identity theft as defined by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“Whereby someone steals or uses personal or sensitive information of another person without his/her knowledge or permission, through hacking into one’s personal account, hijacking one’s data and taking over one’s online identity, to commit fraudulent acts or crimes, or conduct unauthorized business,” he said.

In 2021, Militar said the Philippines suffered from phishing attacks who have targeted finance-related transactions.

“The Philippines was the most hit by phishing attacks last year in the Southeast Asia region according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which usually targets finance-related transactions such as banks, e-commerce stores, and payment systems,” Militar said.

He said that statistics show most of the phishing attempts are made on the payment system in the country such as credit cards, debit cards, and even mobile payment applications or e-wallets (electronic).

To avoid further damage, Militar said the government should take action against the crime.

“It is a duty of the government to protect the fundamental human right to privacy,” Militar said.

He said that to counter these attacks, the best solution is vigilance and users should be educated about the attempts. He added that the related agencies should implement a technical solution for early detection, monitoring, and subsequent blocking of phishing websites.

Meanwhile, the resolution has been approved in the first reading and will further be tackled in a committee meeting. KSD