Is the Philippines approaching a tipping point in financial crime?
A report released by regtech firm Tookitaki and the AFC Ecosystem, in partnership with ABCOMP Philippines, unveiled the deepening complexities of the country’s financial crime landscape.
The 2024 Annual Philippines Financial Crime Landscape Report examined the significant rise in sophisticated threats that exploited gaps in systems, regulations, and public awareness.
Despite the implementation of strengthened measures such as the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) and increased regulatory oversight of digital platforms and money service businesses, criminals continued to evolve at a rapid pace—finding new ways to exploit loopholes and bypass existing controls.
This highlighted the urgent need for more adaptive compliance strategies.
One of the most alarming revelations from the report was the scale of money mule networks, which may have involved up to five percent of the population—many unknowingly allowing their accounts to be misused.
Dormant accounts and informal remittance channels remained common avenues for illicit fund flows.
At the same time, account takeover (ATO) fraud surged, resulting in PHP 409 million in reported losses in 2024 alone, primarily driven by phishing campaigns and credential theft.
The report also documented a sharp rise in investment scams, particularly targeting Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) through social media and fraudulent investment platforms.
These scams accounted for over PHP 100 billion in losses, often facilitated by verified-looking profiles that misled victims.
Meanwhile, casino junkets and under-regulated Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) continued to serve as channels for laundering illicit wealth—posing persistent challenges for law enforcement and regulatory bodies.
New scenarios such as romance scams, laundering linked to the online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC), e-commerce payment fraud, and misuse of Golden Visa residency programs also gained traction, further complicating the compliance landscape for financial institutions.
Drawing from real-world data and typologies contributed by experts in the AFC Ecosystem, the report presented actionable intelligence to help Philippine financial institutions strengthen their risk detection frameworks.
These included indicators such as frequent micro-transactions, mismatches between customer and transaction geographies, and suspicious behaviour from newly created accounts.
Download the full report to explore comprehensive insights and red flags that shaped the financial crime landscape in the Philippines in 2024 here.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik
