CEBU -- A Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) top official advised the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cardholders to be extra careful in withdrawing money after some people were victimized by scammers.
Leonides Sumbi, regional director of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Cebu, said on Friday that skimming results in the unauthorized withdrawal access of a certain person to the account of another person.
"It's either nakuha niya ang PIN or data sa micro strip. Makuha gani na niya, he can transact using that account. (It’s either the skimmer got the PIN or data in the micro strip. Once a skimmer got hold of either of the two, he can transact using that account)," she said.
Sumbi said it is safer for ATM cardholders to withdraw their cash in an on-site withdrawing machines, as these are being guarded by bank establishments.
Off-site withdrawing machines, that are not located in or placed near the bank, are prone to skimming, she said.
“Do not believe that electronics are safe,” she added.
Eight persons, including Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, have said they lost a combined sum of P423,000 to the culprits.
BSP Cebu already referred the case of Tumulak and seven others to the Financial Consumer Protection Department in Manila.
Sumbi advised ATM cardholders not to be very open with passwords and remember to cover their hands while encoding PIN. (Tovya Kaiko Galeon, USJ-R Intern/Sunnex)