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Philippine lawmakers ask ATM fraudsters, 'Do ya feel lucky?'

January 30, 2018

"You've gotta ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"

Fraudsters contemplating crimes in the Philippines might want to stop and mumble this line from Dirty Harry under their breath before installing that skimmer on an ATM. And they'll want to think carefully about the answer.

That's because the Philippines House of Representatives has approved a bill imposing harsh punishments on thieves who use ATM skimming devices to commit their crimes, according to a report by the Manila Times.

House Bill 6710 states that:

The state likewise acknowledges that the advances in information technology on access devices have been exploited by criminals and criminal syndicates in perpetrating fraudulent activities that ultimately undermine the trust of the public in the banking industry. Due to this deleterious effect on the economy, the state declares that the commission of a crime using access devices is a form of economic sabotage and a heinous crime and shall be punishable to the maximum level allowed by law.

Penalties proposed in the bill range from a minimum of 10,000 pesos (or twice the amount stolen) and at least six years in prison to a maximum of 1–5 million pesos and life in prison:

… if the offense constitutes economic sabotage. Economic sabotage is deemed committed when any of the prohibited acts described in section 9 hereof is committed under the following circumstances:

• The prohibited act involves the hacking of a bank's system;
• The act of skimming affected 50 or more ATM cards;
• The prohibited act affected 50 or more online banking accounts, credit cards, ATM cards and debit cards.

"Losses from ATM fraud have surged alarmingly from 175 million pesos in 2012 to more than 600 million pesos in 2016 — a 250 percent increase in just four years," Rep. Ben Evardone, sponsor of the bill said in the report. "Add to this the reported 500 million pesos stolen through fraudulent credit card transactions in 2016 alone and one starts to get the scary picture. This has to stop."