House Bill 9615 or the Bank Account and E-Wallet Regulation Act seeks to further protect the country’s financial system from cybercriminals, which have been on a rapid rise as millions of consumers have shifted their banking and purchasing activity to online platforms since the COVID-19 outbreak.

“There has been a rise in the number of cybercrimes perpetrated against the banking public, thus there is a need to ensure that criminals are held accountable for what they have done,” said BAP president Jose Arnulfo A. Veloso.

The bill punishes money mules and phishing with imprisonment (six years and one day to 12 years) or a fine between P200,000 and P500,000.

These major offenses will be considered as economic crimes.

Persons who are found aiding a money mule or commiting major offenses under the bill will be punished with prision correccional (six months and one day to six years in prison) or a fine ranging from P100,000 to P200,000.

A money mule is someone who electronically receives, acquires, or transfers funds derived from phishing or other cybercrimes while phishing is defined as a scheme to obtain sensitive information by disguising as a trusted entity in an electronic communication for the purpose of illegally accessing a victim’s online account.

The BAP said it was open to providing inputs to further strengthen the bill.

The post Bankers want money muling, phishing to be treated as economic sabotage first appeared on Bilyonaryo Business News.