James Sarmiento was one of those who lost big money due to unauthorized withdrawal from his BDO account last weekend.
Like other victims, he also joined a support group of those who lost money.
According to Sarmiento, his fellow victims are having a hard time waiting for the reimbursement of their money, especially as Christmas approaches.
“Nananawagan kami na sana, bukod sa mapadali ang proseso, mapabilis din,” said Sarmiento.
BDO has issued a new statement to reimburse nearly 700 robbed clients.
However, the victims need to go to their respective branches of account to fix the problem.
“We have requested our clients to go to their branch of account and submit documentation to get the refund. The bank will shoulder the losses perpetuated by this cybercrime incident,” said BDO.
For Sarmiento, this is hard to do.
“Dahil work from home tayo, karamihan sa mga kagrupo namin nasa probinsiya, nahihirapan na lumuwas para asikasuhin ‘yung dispute nila sa branch of account.”
Another victim is Arvic Ramos, an OFW in Kuwait. He said that what happened was disappointing because he was very careful with his online account.
“Di naman kami basta nagbibigay ng kahit anong information sa ibang tao na alam natin sa ganitong panahon, uso ang hacking-hacking na ganyan,” he said.
BDO clients affected by hacking demand faster reimbursements
It is unclear when BDO will return the lost money.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has formed a special task force to investigate the unauthorized withdrawals.
According to BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno, the special task force has 30 days to complete its work.
According to Diokno, if they find any shortcomings in BDO, they can also be punished.
He added that it looks like the thieves have an accomplice inside BDO.
“I’m sure may kasabwat ‘yan sa loob. Kasi, given the extent of the hacking, marami kasing kaso sabay-sabay diba? Sa palagay ko meron inside,” said Diokno.
According to the National Privacy Commission, it is still being investigated whether the thieves also stole personal data. They are waiting for the report of the BDO data protection officers.
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