In a major move to clean up its digital ecosystem, GCash has deactivated more than 3,200 merchants found to be involved in illegal activities, including unauthorized online gambling and fraudulent schemes.
The company has restricted these entities from accessing any of its services, effectively cutting off their ability to process transactions through the widely used platform.
Dismantling Deceptive Tactics
Over the past year, GCash has collaborated with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) to identify operators who were exploiting the QRPh payment rail. Scammers frequently used “QR masking”, where a code appears legitimate but redirects funds to an unauthorized account, or created fake payment pages that mimicked the official GCash interface.
GCash clarified that it holds no formal ties to these entities:
“These merchants are restricted from accessing its services after being detected engaging in illegal activities on its platform… independent entities attempting to ride on legitimate digital payment systems to process their transactions”.
Layers of Protection
GCash is now instantly disabling any links associated with fraudulent operations and forwarding suspicious transaction details to both the CICC and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
Miguel Geronilla, GCash Chief Information and Security Officer, stated that these actions are intended to protect Filipino users and increase confidence in the nation’s digital financial system. Users are reminded never to share their MPIN or OTP and to verify merchant names before confirming any QRPh transaction.
