SCAMMERS are increasingly turning to digital wallets to move funds in the Philippines, with reported abuse of the channel having more than doubled in a year.
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), in its State of Scams Philippines 2026 Report released in collaboration with Mastercard and Gogolook, found that the use of bank account transfers by scammers had fallen sharply to 12 percent from 36 percent in 2025.
Reported abuse of digital wallets, on the other hand, surged to 73 percent from 34 percent a year earlier.
GASA Asia-Pacific director Brian Hanley stressed the continuing challenge for banks, financial technology companies, regulators and other stakeholders as the Philippines expands its use of digital payments and other online services.
“The findings highlight how scammers continue to adapt their tactics and shift toward other channels,” Hanley said during the report’s launch on Thursday.
E-wallet use in the Philippines was said to be much higher than other countries in the region.
“That’s a notable data point for the Philippines. And on the human cost, again, 82 percent of victims say the scam affected their ability to trust digital tools,” Hanley said.
The decline in bank-account transfers was said to have coincided with efforts across the financial sector, including the implementation of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act and nationwide mule-account intelligence initiatives such as Mastercard Trace.
The shift in channels, however, showed that stronger controls in one part of the financial system could lead scammers to seek alternatives.
The growing use of digital wallets comes as Filipinos increasingly rely on digital services for payments, shopping, work and communication.
The report said that 88 percent of scam attempts occurred on platforms with a direct-message function while 39 percent of respondents were approached through instant messaging applications and 36 percent through social media posts.
“These findings highlight why cybersecurity and scam detection can no longer be viewed solely as a technical issue,” it said.
The report also said that 15 percent of respondents had lost money or personal data that resulted in financial losses, with victims reporting an average loss of P10,427.
Across the Philippines, this translated into an estimated P121.8 billion annually.
The impact of scams also extended beyond financial losses, with 82 percent of victims saying the experience negatively affected their mental well-being.
Another 22 percent said they were unable to pay for basic necessities and GASA said these consequences show why preventing scams should not rely solely on consumers being able to identify fraudulent activity.
While 58 percent of Filipino adults said they were confident in their ability to recognize a scam, 60 percent of those who had encountered one still went on to interact with it.
Reporting also remains a challenge as only four percent of all respondents reported a scam to authorities, although the proportion rose to 29 percent among those who lost money.
Mastercard Philippines Country Manager Jason Crasto said maintaining trust would be critical as the Philippines continued its digital transformation.
He said scams represented a major threat to the country’s digital transformation ambitions and called for greater cooperation between the public and private sectors, along with stronger intelligence sharing and investments in technology.
Gogolook Philippines Country Head and General Manager Mel Migriño also highlighted the need to make anti-scam protection more accessible to businesses and consumers.
She said tools that help businesses distinguish legitimate communications from impersonation attempts, as well as services that allow consumers to identify callers and suspicious messages and links could help strengthen trust in the digital economy.
