A Filipino artist turned GCash‘s new update on hiding recipients’ names into a humorous illustration that made buzz on social media.
Independent comic artist and illustrator Allan Jeffrey “AJ” Bacar or Sskait Comics (@sskaitcomics) posted a meme-like artwork on social media where the GCash update was juxtaposed with a caricature of a supposed scammer.
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The GCash interface featured a recipient’s name with some letters in asterisks.
The scammer was then reimagined as a contestant in the American game show “Wheel of Fortune.”
The long-running television game show involves contestants solving word puzzles to win cash prizes.
They have the option “to buy a vowel” to solve the puzzles easier.
“I’d like to buy a vowel,” the character wearing a mask said to unveil the target recipient’s name.
The social media post reads: “Wheel of fortune GCash edition. Shookt mga scammers sa bagong update ni #gcash.”
Wheel of fortune GCash edition ✨
Shookt mga scammers sa bagong update ni #gcash 😂 @gcashofficial pic.twitter.com/2jOj45vily
— Sskait (@sskaitcomics) September 8, 2022
Bacar uploaded this artwork on September 8. It has since caught the attention of social media users, including members of r/Philippines.
Several Filipinos were amused by it. Some even tried to solve the name in the word puzzle-like format from the mobile wallet.
“I’d like to guess…MA FERRER ANNE,” one user said.
“MY FERRIS INN, sure na,” another user guessed.
Some Redditors, meanwhile, cast doubt on the efficacy of the mobile wallet’s countermeasure to hide some of the letters in the cash recipients’ names. They argued that GCash still notifies recipients of transactions via text using their real names.
“Di ko talaga gets yung pagrremove ng parts ng name, eh may message notif parin naman with the full name,” one Redditor said.
“Effective ba talaga yan e may text message din naman na nakalagay yung pangalan nun pinadalhan?,” another Redditor asked.
One online user, meanwhile, described the notification feature as a “double-edged sword.”
“Double-edged sword talaga yung pwedeng makita yung pangalan eh. sa name din ako nakarely para magdouble check pero at the same time, sobrang vulnerable ng info mo na kahit sino pwedeng makaalam ng name mo through your number,” the Reddit user said.
GCash updated the name display feature following reports of users who received suspicious text scams that contained their full names.
The format of their names in these messages was the same as their usernames on the popular e-wallet service.
READ: Mobile wallet app starts hiding some letters in recipient names amid text scam surge
A full name appears on the confirmation page when sending or transferring money to another user.
In this step, the platform asks the sender to confirm if the recipient’s mobile number and username are correct.
The name is also the account owner’s verified GCash username.
Following the increase in the new type of text scam, Ingrid Rose Ann Beroña, chief risk officer of GCash, said that notifications will be sent to in-app inboxes instead of text messages as an added countermeasure.
“Migrating the transaction confirmation messages from text messages to the app inbox will help ensure users are only getting legitimate messages regarding their GCash transactions,” Beroña was quoted in the report as saying.