Ryan Cayabyab’s ₱1,000 ‘traffic fine’ leads to unauthorized airline ticket purchase

The National Artist warns the public after a fake traffic fine led to credit card fraud.

What started as a simple attempt to settle what appeared to be a ₱1,000 traffic violation quickly turned into a costly phishing scare for National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab.

The legendary musician admitted that he was caught off guard by an online scam after checking the MMDA-NCAP website out of curiosity and finding what appeared to be a traffic violation.

Thinking the ₱1,000 fine was legitimate, Cayabyab proceeded to pay it. But what he did not realize was that he had already fallen into a phishing trap.

“I am usually very very careful but today I checked the mmda-ncap out of curiosity. May huli ako. 1000. A. Okay. I can pay that. AND I DID!!!” he recalled on his personal Facebook account.

Cayabyab later realized that he had provided the scammer with his credit card information, including the crucial one-time password or OTP needed to authorize the transaction.

“Ambobokooooo! I provided every detail of my credit card plus the otp,” he admitted.

The supposed payment did not even appear to go through, leaving Cayabyab wondering what had happened.

“When I finally sent the otp to confirm… ayaw mag confirm. What happened????” he wrote.

The answer came less than a minute later when he received an alert from his credit card provider informing him that his card had been used to purchase a plane ticket, with the transaction charged in Canadian dollars.

That was when the reality of the scam immediately sank in.

“I got a message from my card saying that I had just purchased a plane ticket from [airline]. It took me just under a minute to realize I had been scammed!” Cayabyab shared.

He immediately reached out to his preferred bank adviser, who instructed him on what to do next. His card was blocked and the transaction was placed under investigation.

However, Cayabyab revealed that one transaction had already been completed, prompting his bank adviser to tell him to contact the airline in hopes of preventing the fraudulent purchase from pushing through.

Still trying to find a way to stop the unauthorized transaction, Cayabyab took to social media to ask for help, particularly from anyone who might have a connection within the airline who could assist in blocking the scam purchase.

The incident served as a painful reminder for the veteran musician that even being extremely cautious online does not necessarily make someone immune to sophisticated phishing scams.

“Haaaay nakoooo,” Cayabyab ended his post.

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