BSP warns vs fake documents

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Tuesday cautioned against illegal documents falsely attributed to the central bank, which are being used to carry out scams across the country.

This came after the BSP discovered several documents that illegally incorporated the central bank’s name and logo, or an official’s name and signature.

“The BSP reiterates that it does not authorize or endorse individuals or firms to collect ‘fees’ or payments purportedly for anti-money laundering clearance, taxes, insurance, and other fabricated charges,” the central bank said in a statement. “Legitimate financial regulators, law enforcement agencies, and financial institutions do not ask for this type of sensitive information through unsolicited calls, e-mails, or text messages.”

The BSP said the scammers have used the scheme for documents, including assurance letters, confirmation of beneficiary bank, terms of loan contract, as well as requests for one-time passwords and certifications for loans, deposits, withdrawals, fund transfers, credit cards, money changing, investments or insurance.

They often attempt to fish for individuals’ personal information such as bank details and passwords or extort money under false pretense, the central bank added.

The BSP also advised the public to exercise caution against suspicious advertisements, requests or documents that may be posing as the central bank and to refrain from engaging with them.

The central bank said such incidents may be reported to the BSP, the Philippine National Police or the National Bureau of Investigation. — Katherine K. Chan