GCash users lament issues, unauthorized transactions amounting to tens of thousands
Users of digital wallet GCash have reportedly experienced issues in navigating the app, with some users lamenting in social about losing tens of thousands in unauthorized transactions.
Downdetector, a website providing real-time information about services, showed that there's an increase in reports involving GCash on the early hours of May 9.
Content creator Chad Kinis, who has over three million Facebook followers, at 12:03 a.m. said his GCash account "just got hacked." He said he lost his money without even receiving a one-time password or OTP.
At 12:30 a.m. Chad posted screenshots of multiple bank transfers amounting to tens of thousands.
"Ganito din ba nangyari sa Gcash niyo? Nalimas bigla," Chad said. "If this is a system error sana po maayos agad. Nakakaloka huhuhu."
Jay-ar Flores, who has over 6,600 Facebook followers, said he didn't receive an OTP or even an email but lost over P20,000 in his balance.
Facebook user Oronan Aniñon Dhem, meanwhile, said she lost her hard-earned P70,000, which she already reported to the platform but has yet to receive an update.
Some users compiled screenshots of complaints written in public posts. The complaints appear to have a common denominator: The unauthorized transactions involve an East West Banking Corporation account ending in 5239.
GCash has become a trending topic on Twitter. Trends tracker trends24 showed there are over 45,000 tweets about it to date.
In an advisory posted via Instagram stories at around 10:20 a.m., GCash said that they have resumed services, assuring users that their "funds are safe."
"You may have had problems accessing your GCash accounts in the past few hours. We apologize for the inconvenience. The app is now back up and rest assured that your funds are safe," they wrote.
They released another statement at 10:50 a.m., saying they have scheduled maintenance to investigate and found that "no hacking has occured."
"Any deduction from a GCash account will be adjusted before 3 p.m. today. We wish to further assure customers that their funds remain safe and secure. We would also like to remind customers to never share their OTP and MPIN."
In a statement at 4:44 p.m., EastWest Bank said it "immediately acted" on the earlier reports and initiated an internal investigation.
"Rest assured that EastWest is cooperating with authorities and other institutions involved in the said report and working towards immediate resolution of the matter."
(Editor's Note: This article has been updated twice, adding the statements of GCash and EastWest.)