GCash: No funds lost despite system glitch

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 9) — Mobile wallet GCash on Tuesday assured users that their funds are secure, ruling out any hacking incident amid reports that sums of money in their accounts were funneled to bank accounts without their permission.

"Some customers may have experienced a deduction in their GCash accounts yesterday. We extended our scheduled maintenance to investigate and determined that no hacking occurred," GCash wrote in a statement.

As of 4:30 p.m, the company said it has already adjusted the e-wallets of affected users, as it reiterated no funds were lost.

It added that the app is operational again after an hours-long downtime.

The firm also reminded its users to remain vigilant in their online transactions, and to never share their one-time passwords (OTP) and mobile personal identification number (MPIN).

Meanwhile, the EastWest Bank (EWB) said it has immediately acted on reports regarding unauthorized cash transfers from GCash into a certain alleged EWB account.

“Rest assured that EastWest is cooperating with authorities and other institutions involved in the said report and working towards the immediate resolution on the matter,” the bank added.

GCash was trending on Twitter this morning after users reported experiencing issues in accessing the digital platform.

Several users also aired their frustration online, saying they did not receive any notification nor OTP but unauthorized bank transfers still went through.