MANILA - GCash said on Tuesday users who sell their accounts to scammers may face jail time.

These accounts are considered money mules when used by fraudsters to amass large sums of money while keeping their identity secrets, the telco said in a statement.

Persons whose identities were used in scams also face jail time if it’s proven that these individuals voluntarily sold their accounts, said Ingrid Beroña, Chief Risk Officer of GCash.

“That’s why we strongly urge our customers to never sell their GCash accounts to avoid identity theft and get their name linked to fraudulent activities without their knowledge," she added.

GCash said there were reports that fraudsters visit impoverished areas to offer individuals P150 to P500 for GCash-registered mobile number using their identities.

The buyers then sell the SIM cards to scammers, it added.

Telco operators, law enforcement authorities, the central bank as well as banks are working together to curb the continued proliferation of SMS-linked spam messages.

GCash said it has helped arrest 6 sellers of verified wallets with 741 SIMs confiscated.

Globe Telecom earlier said it blocked 32.2 million text messages with clickable link in just a 2 weeks.

• NTC orders telcos to deactivate clickable URLs, links in malicious texts
• Globe blocks SMS with clickable links to beat scammers
• Globe blocks 32.2-M SMS with clickable links in just 2 weeks

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