The Department of Justice (DOJ) has joined forces with telecommunications companies, regulators and the credit card industry to intensify the fight against online scams, as a new report estimates that Filipinos lost P121.8 billion to fraud over the past year.
The DOJ's Office of Cybercrime (OOC) participated in a high-level coordination meeting hosted by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), alongside the Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and DITO Telecommunity.
The discussions focused on accelerating the exchange of electronic evidence and information needed to investigate online fraud and other technology-related financial crimes.
Participants also sought to simplify incident reporting, improve referral procedures and establish direct communication channels among agencies and private companies to speed up responses to cybercrime complaints.
The initiative comes as online scams continue to affect millions of Filipinos, with fraudsters increasingly exploiting digital wallets, text messages and messaging applications.
According to the State of Scams Philippines 2026 Report, released by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), Gogolook and Mastercard, Filipino adults lost an estimated P121.8 billion to scams over the past year, averaging P10,427 per victim.
The estimate was based on a survey of 1,160 Filipino adults and extrapolated to the country's adult population, rather than an official tally of reported losses.
The report found that 84 percent of Filipino adults encountered at least one scam attempt during the period, up from 77 percent in 2025.
On average, respondents encountered 151 scam attempts annually, highlighting the widespread reach of fraudulent schemes.
Digital wallets emerged as a growing channel for fraudulent transactions, with reported use by scammers rising from 34 percent in 2025 to 73 percent in 2026.
Text messages remained the leading means of initial scam contact at 69 percent, followed by instant messaging applications at 39 percent.
Despite increased public awareness, only 4 percent of respondents who encountered scams reported the incidents to authorities, underscoring a significant gap in reporting and enforcement.
Meanwhile, official law enforcement data showed an 18.4 percent decline in recorded online scam cases during the first half of 2026, from 5,526 cases in the same period last year to 4,509.
The DOJ-OOC said closer coordination among telecommunications providers, financial institutions and government agencies would help investigators obtain evidence more quickly and pursue suspected cybercriminals.
The partnership also seeks to address delays in information sharing and improve the handling of complaints involving multiple institutions.
Officials said stronger public-private cooperation is necessary as cybercriminals adopt increasingly sophisticated methods to target financial accounts and digital transactions