Safety first: GCash shields Filipinos from online scams with 'i-Legit Check Muna' campaign

MANILA, Philippines — This holiday season, deals and discounts abound online, and most online shoppers are scrambling to make the most out of promos and finish off their gift lists. When people are in such a hurry to grab a deal and forget to check if the seller is real, they become the perfect target for scammers.

Financial super app GCash is empowering Filipinos to protect themselves against online shopping scams by educating them about fake sellers and encouraging them to use the express send checkbox for send money transactions to take a pause and verify the legitimacy of the person they are sending money to.

“GCash remains committed to protecting users from losing their hard-earned money to scams. We want to work hand in hand with Filipinos in helping them secure their e-wallet: by arming them with knowledge about the prevalence of fake sellers and how to spot online scams so they can confidently transact online,” Ingrid Beroña, chief risk officer at Gcash, said.

GCash urges users to make it a habit to ensure that their sellers are legitimate before paying for their product. To complement its effort of educating consumers, GCash also introduces the Express Send Checkbox for Send Money transactions, a unique feature designed to help users pause and verify the legitimacy of the person they are sending money to prior to making an Express Send transaction.

Online shopping has become a preferred choice for many Filipinos. Aside from e-commerce platforms, sellers have also set up their spaces on social media sites. However, the availability of more online platforms make users more vulnerable to scammers.

GCash advises users to watch out for common signs that might indicate that an online shopper is a fraud. Fake sellers may have little to no account history, have a new seller profile, or sell their products at very low prices compared to the average market price.

To avoid this, GCash advises users to do a “legit check” on the seller’s profile by doing the following:

While everyone is either in high spirits or frazzled during the holidays, doing a “legit check” helps stop Filipinos from falling victim to fake and malicious sellers.

While fake sellers try hard to