PREVENTION, through awareness, is a vital tool in combating scammers. Time and again, experts give online communities the pro tip: "Stop, breathe and ask." Often, scammers rush their victims and push lots of emotional hot buttons to get the victim to stop thinking rationally.

"Never let strangers force you into fast decisions. Pause, calm yourself, and think clearly and critically. Chances are you'll quickly see the situation for what it is. Don't be afraid to hang up and validate with your financial institution and/or law enforcement," experts add.

GoTyme Bank partner Scam Watch Pilipina — a cybersecurity movement intended to educate as many Filipinos as possible against cyber fraud and online scams — enjoins members of the public to develop four attitudes that could prevent them from becoming a victim of online scams:

"Be stingy, and never give money or information to people you don't know or have just met.

"Be wary, and do not fall prey to too-good-to-be-true offers.

"Be a snob, and ignore SMS, email or social media messages with threats or warning coming from banking, financial and e-commerce institutions, especially if you know that you have no pending transaction with them.

"Report incidents of scam to the Inter-Agency Response Center (I-ARC) via hotline 1326."

GoTyme assures that it will always listen to the issue at hand through helpful humans, who will walk customers through correct processes.