Sharks in the same tank
In the case of illegal lenders and the so-called professional borrowers who take out loans without intending to pay them, they’re both sharks swimming in the same tank.
Daily TribuneIn the case of illegal lenders and the so-called professional borrowers who take out loans without intending to pay them, they’re both sharks swimming in the same tank.
A raid undertaken by the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group netted over the weekend 83 collectors of an illegal online lending company based in Sampaloc, Manila.
When the PNP-ACG operatives barged into the loan shark's office, most of the collectors were said to be in the middle of making threatening calls or posting libelous online remarks against the borrowers they've saddled with loans of unbelievably high-interest rates.
This raid was just one against what may be hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal online lending firms now operating across the country, taking advantage of many Filipinos who are in dire straits financially.
Just the same, Filipino borrowers must acquire even elementary financial literacy to at least know when not to bite into stratospheric interest rates or unconscionable loan terms.
If it can serve as a rough guide to those seeking unsecured loans (without collateral), the Monetary Board in November 2020 issued a circular capping interest on credit card use at 2 percent per month or a maximum of 24 percent per year, subject to review.
Unsecured loans offered by legal financial entities had been traditionally allowed by monetary authorities to impose higher interest rates because they pose greater risks to lenders who, invariably, had to write off debts here and there since going to court to collect is also costly.
In the case of illegal lenders and the so-called professional borrowers who take out loans without intending to pay them, they're both sharks swimming inside the same tank.
In semi-lawless times, like when the Mafiosi lorded it over American cities after World War 2, debts were collected through spilled bile and blood. But since we'd like to think we live in a world guided by the rule of law, the PNP-ACG should not let up on its effort to shut down these loan sharks over complaints by their customers of being harassed and publicly humiliated.
In this effort, the PNP-ACG rightly has the support of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a private anti-cybercrime group that went to court to have a search warrant issued against the Sampaloc lending company operating illegally.
Seized from the loan shark's office were pieces of digital evidence allegedly used by the illegal lender in violating a plethora of laws, including cyberlibel, unfair debt collection practices, grave threats, data privacy, and misuse of access devices.
On the other side of the fence, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, among other concerned agencies, should crack down on many scams victimizing bank clients and those who use the various electronic payment systems.
It's not enough for that one bank, for example, to shrug off the loss of P1 million by a depositor just because, purportedly, her banking details were compromised outside of the bank's system.
Officers of that bank need a crash course on empathy because their dismissive tone could certainly drive away their customers or make people think twice about putting their money in their care.
At any rate, it would take a combined effort by the government and legally operating financial firms like banks to secure the now prevalent online banking and payment system from attacks by tech-savvy criminals.
It's an ever-continuing one-upmanship between cybersecurity experts trying to ironclad fintech offerings to the public and cybercriminals who take advantage of an ever-widening attack surface and constantly emerging weak points.
