Senator Mark Villar cites success of anti-scam law as 500 cases filed

Senator Mark Villar on Friday said the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) is beginning to show tangible results, pointing to the filing of more than 500 criminal cases against individuals involved in online financial scams during the law's first year of implementation.

Quoting data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Villar said the Philippine National Police (PNP) has so far charged scammers, fraudsters, money mules and other individuals linked to financial account scams since the law took effect.

“Bilang Principal Sponsor ng AFASA noong 19th Congress at Chairman ng Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, ipinasa natin ang batas na ito upang tulungang mabawi ang perang na-scam sa mga biktima ng financial crimes,” Villar said.

"Mahigit 500 kaso na ang naisampa laban sa mga scammer—patunay na may pangil na ang AFASA. Bilang Principal Author ng batas, ikinagagalak kong makita na mas mabilis nang nakakakilos ang ating mga law enforcement agencies upang habulin at papanagutin ang mga kriminal na nagnanakaw ng pinaghirapang pera ng ating mga kababayan," he added.

Villar, who principally authored and sponsored the measure in the Senate, said AFASA was crafted to strengthen the country's response to online financial crimes while requiring banks and other financial institutions to improve their fraud prevention systems.

Under the law, banks and BSP-supervised financial institutions were given until June this year to upgrade their fraud management measures, including the use of more advanced fraud detection tools and stronger authentication protocols for high-risk transactions.

Now that the compliance period has ended, financial institutions that fail to meet the required security standards may face liability for unauthorized transactions resulting from their noncompliance. They may also be required to reimburse affected clients for losses tied to inadequate fraud management systems.

Apart from pursuing scammers, Villar said the law also aims to provide faster relief to victims by allowing banks to temporarily freeze suspicious transactions before stolen funds can be withdrawn while investigations are ongoing.

"Hindi lamang pagpaparusa sa mga scammer ang layunin ng AFASA. Mahalaga ring matulungan agad ang mga biktima. Kaya binibigyan ng batas ng mas mabilis na paraan upang maharang ang mga kahina-hinalang transaksyon at mapigilan ang tuluyang pagkawala ng kanilang pinaghirapang pera," Villar said.

The senator said he will continue to push for the law's full implementation as digital financial transactions become more widespread.

"Habang patuloy na nagbabago ang teknolohiya, kailangan ding patuloy na umunlad ang ating mga batas. Bilang Principal Author ng AFASA, sisiguraduhin nating ganap itong maipatutupad laban sa mga online scammer at mapanatili ang tiwala ng publiko sa ating digital financial system, Asahan nyo rin po ang patuloy nating pagsusulong ng mga batas at reporma para sa mas ligtas na banking sector sa bansa," Villar concluded.