MANILA - UnionBank of the Philippines said Friday it has closed identified “mule” accounts as it continuously investigates suspicious transactions linked to the proliferating SMS scam.

The National Privacy Commission earlier said it discovered that fraudsters use UnionBank and Mynt’s GCash as payment channels.

UnionBank is working with regulators, telcos and various merchants to ensure fraudulent activities associated with specific accounts are “thoroughly investigated and are dealt with appropriately,” it said in a statement sent to ABS-CBN News.

“We continuously monitor and investigate accounts with suspicious transactions and have already closed those that we have identified as "mule" accounts,” it added.

It said the investigations are ongoing.

GCash, for its part, said it has rolled out "extra security" features to protect consumers.

• GCash rolls out 'extra security' to protect users from SMS scam
• Privacy watchdog probes SMS spam; forms inter-agency body vs cybercrimes

As cybercrime rises in many different forms, the bank reminded the public to remain “informed” and vigilant. They should refrain from entertaining messages from unknown sources.

Regulators have said an inter-agency body was formed to look into the SMS scam.

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