Our Unionbank GetGo Credit Card Got Compromised

I can't still believe that our GetGo VISA credit card has been compromised. I just finished the call with a UnionBank Fraud team member who had helped us block our account so no other transaction can be made.

Story:

At 2:48PM today, my husband received a notification from UnionBank regarding a Cebu Pacific transaction amounting to Php 2,475.84. He was confused as we had no plans of traveling this year as I am 8 months pregnant and couldn't think of anyone who might be using the card so he turned to me with a bad look showing me the message.

I was also furious because I thought he was accusing me of such transactions. I tried logging into our UnionBank app on the phone but can't do it due to incorrect credentials (oh, I hate forgetting the password each time) so I called the number mentioned on the message.

It took a while before I reached this agent named Gel or Jel, I am not sure but she immediately blocked the account after verifying the account details and confirming with me that we were not the ones who made such transaction. I tried to think and couldn't think of any other person and the card is just inside my husband's wallet. So we proceed with blocking the card, the amount is still floating right now and she said to do the following:

1. Wait within 7 days for the transaction to be posted on our account
2. Once transaction is posted, I must call again for the dispute
3. Dispute investigation will take 45 working days
4. Card will be replaced for FREE and delivered within 7 working days, but expect some delays due to the current pandemic situation
5. We will pay for the amount billed
6. Once the dispute has been investigated and found that the transaction was indeed fraudelent, the amount will be refunded to us.
7. If the investigation shows that it is valid, we have to pay Php 1000 as it is an invalid dispute.

I am all fine with the above and so now we wait for the amount to be posted.

I am thankful that the agent was able to do the immediate action during the call, although it got cut off and I had to call back once again and spoke to another guy however, it reflects that the account has been blocked already.

I will update this blog and post about the dispute process and other details.

Now, both my husband and I are thinking where did we use the card and how come it has been compromised? We only use UnionBank for online purchases and the last transaction made by James was with PayPal. Other latest transaction was with GCash as I usually pay our bill via their bills payment feature, that happened two days ago and the last one was with Google when James sent a superchat to one of his friends on YouTube.

Now, where did it get compromised? We never used the card in any physical store lately. Do you have guesses? I searched online if there's anybody else who had gone through the same situation and couldn't find any so far. So, I guess we are the first ones. This is the very first time that we experienced a fraud transaction with our cards and I am just glad that it was just 2,475.84 pesos.

I am confident that UnionBank will be able to investigate who did the transaction because Cebu Pacific and UnionBank are sister companies plus, the booking can be traced into who's the passenger and who booked it with all the contact details and email address. So, I don't have to worry because I know it was not us and this is a valid fraudelent activity dispute.

For now, we just have to relax and wait.

Please immediately call the 24-Hour Hotline- (632) 981-3699 or Universal Toll Free- IAC +800-8277-2273 if you experienced the same.