Cybersecurity firm Resecurity has warned of a growing wave of NFC-based fraud targeting the Philippine financial system, driven by sophisticated Chinese cybercriminal groups exploiting vulnerabilities in contactless payments.
The country’s rapid shift to tap-and-go payments and mobile wallets like GCash, Maya, and BDO Pay has made it a top target in Southeast Asia, with dark web activity linked to Chinese actors rising nearly 230% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to a year earlier, according to Resecurity’s threat intelligence.
Attackers are leveraging Host Card Emulation (HCE) and underground tools like Z-NFC and Track2NFC to simulate transactions using stolen card data.
These methods bypass traditional authentication and often go undetected. Some terminals, disguised as legitimate POS devices and equipped with eSIMs, reportedly process up to $80,000 a day in fraudulent payments.
Resecurity traced many of these activities to Chinese crime syndicates such as the “Smishing Triad,” which now operates through Crime-as-a-Service models. Telegram bots like “Panda Shop” and “Hulk Vault” are used to distribute stolen credit card data, phishing kits, and fraud tools.
One underground shop alone listed over 7,700 compromised Philippine-issued cards for sale.
The firm also flagged growing links between foreign cybercriminals and local operators, who recruit “money mules” to set up fake businesses or deploy fraudulent POS systems in retail and food service outlets, allowing them to move stolen funds discreetly.
With TransUnion estimating the country’s digital fraud rate at 13.4% in 2024, 150% above the global average, Resecurity is urging a coordinated response.
Recommended actions include stricter verification of merchants, deployment of behavioral analytics, and improved threat sharing between regulators, banks, and fintech companies.
Resecurity warned that the pace of innovation in NFC fraud is outstripping current defenses. Without stronger policies and intelligence capabilities, the firm said, the Philippines risks undermining trust in digital finance and exposing its economy to further disruption.
Business News Asia