Digital wallet giant GCash has blocked over 3,200 merchants linked to illegal activities, including online gambling, to protect consumers from fraud.
The company coordinated with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) to prevent these merchants from misusing the QRPh payment system, including attempts to redirect payments to unauthorized accounts.
Common scams involve QR masking and fake payment pages that imitate legitimate businesses or the GCash interface.
GCash proactively monitors and disables suspicious merchants, reporting them to authorities such as the CICC and Anti-Money Laundering Council to support enforcement efforts.
Users are advised to safeguard their MPIN and OTP, verify merchant details before payments, and avoid scanning QR codes from untrusted sources.
Source: PhilNews24 | March 16, 2026
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