MANILA -- BDO Unibank on Wednesday warned against an e-mail scam that prompts clients to "verify" their accounts, as millions remained locked down in their homes to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country's largest bank posted a screenshot of the e-mail scam on its Facebook page, adding: "Be smarter than a scammer. BDO will NEVER ask you to verify your account. DO NOT click links or give login details and your OTP to fake BDO employees asking to 'verify' your account."

The bank will never ask for username, password, OTP or one-time password, credit card number, expiry date and CVV and it will never ask users to click links online, it said.

"We advise customers to be smarter than scammers and follow BDO's websites and official Facebook page to learn more about how to protect themselves," it said.

The bank said it was "actively tracking" and taking down fake emails. It also warned consumers to be more discerning to avoid gtting scammed through text messages and calls asking for one-time pins.

BDO assured the public that email addresses were not taken from its data base, which explains why even non-bank account holders receive phishing emails.

Authorities have alerted the public to stay alert as hackers could take advantage of the lockdown to prey on those online.

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