Government employees victims of unauthorized withdrawals

Two employees of the Population Commission (PopCom) fell victim to unauthorized withdrawals from the Land Bank of the Philippines’ (LBP) automated teller machine (ATM) in Banilad, near their office. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Money intended for the advance enrollment for her two elementary school children was gone from her Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) account.

But Rosalie Baguio said she never withdrew the amount.

Baguio, accountant II of the Population Commission (PopCom), is among the new victims of a suspected skimming scheme.

Upon learning that PopCom Regional Director Bruce Ragas also lost money in his ATM account, she immediately checked hers online and discovered that it only contained P1,800, when last she checked it had P19,000.

She didn’t make any withdrawals.

Unauthorized withdrawals

Baguio then went to the LBP branch in Banilad, Cebu City, and found out that there were two unauthorized withdrawals that day, the first at 9:56 a.m. for P10,000, the second withdrawal was 9:57 a.m. which involved P8,000.

She also found out that there was a service fee of P21 taken from her account.

“The machine was checked if there was anything attached on it, but at that time, there was nothing. But we don’t know, it might have been removed,” she said.

They will also have to identify where the money was withdrawn.

She said the last time she used her Land Bank automated teller machine (ATM) card was on February 27 at an ATM at the LBP Banilad branch.

Just like Baguio, PopCom-7 Director Ragas lost around P20,000 from his LBP account last Saturday.

Ragas checked his account at 9 a.m. last Saturday in Liloan, expecting an amount to be deposited.

He was surprised when there was no additional money reflected on his account balance.

He then went to the LBP Escario branch and discovered an unauthorized withdrawal at 7 a.m. on Saturday.

As far as he could recall, the last time he used his ATM card was on March 9, Thursday.

“Why there was a withdrawal of money when in fact at 7 a.m. I was still in our house (Liloan)?” he said.

Ragas and Baguio filed a complaint at the Land Bank branch in Escario. Ragas expressed hope that his money would be refunded.

Cooperation

Meanwhile, Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak lamented the lack of cooperation by banks in light of incidents of scams related to ATMs.

“It seems that have not done anything after what happened last year. There are still victims. They should act on it. There seems to be a security breach in the system of the banks,” he told reporters yesterday.

Last November, the Cebu City Council approved a resolution authored by Tumulak requesting the Cebu Bankers Association (CBA) to strictly implement additional security measures to minimize the recurrence of ATM scams.

Among the measures suggested by Tumulak was to require all banks to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on ATMs. He also wanted banks to notify depositors of any withdrawals of P5,000 and up.

Other proposed security measures included requiring banks to check their ATMs regularly especially when there are unusual devices noticed; coordinate with authorities in any investigation and to surrender to the police or other investigating authorities pictures or videos showing the identity of suspects once victims file complaints; and launch a campaign to educate the public about skimming devices so people will be familiar of what they look like and are therefore warned of any possible fraud in ATMs.

Session
During their regular session yesterday, the Cebu City Council approved a resolution filed by Tumulak requesting the CBA and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for a list of banks who have complied with the earlier resolution approved by the council last November.
The same requested list would also include those banks that have not complied with the council resolution.