The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has warned the public against individuals impersonating its chief executive officer, Beverly Lorraine Ho, to solicit money through social media, email, and messaging platforms.
In an advisory issued on November 3, PhilHealth said requests for money or donations made in the name of the agency or its officials are “fraudulent and part of an illegal scam.” The state health insurer covers more than 108 million beneficiaries, according to PhilHealth’s 2025 statistics report.
“PhilHealth strictly clarifies that neither Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho nor any official or employee of PhilHealth is authorized to solicit funds, donations, or personal bank transfers from the public or our partners,” the agency said.
Read more: NHIS phishing scam exposes gaps in South Korea fraud insurance
PhilHealth is not the only insurance body to face this type of attack. South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) has dealt with a similar campaign in which fraudsters send fake billing texts that install malware on recipients’ devices. Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority (IA) has issued multiple warnings about fake websites set up to impersonate licensed insurers and harvest personal data from policyholders.
The scale of digital fraud across the region is growing. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that organised crime networks defrauded Asia-Pacific residents of between US$88.3 billion and US$114.1 billion in 2025, up from US$18 billion to US$37 billion two years earlier.
In the Philippines specifically, a TransUnion survey found that 72% of Filipino consumers reported being targeted by digital fraud between August and December 2025. The country’s suspected digital fraud rate stood at 4.1%, above the global level of 3.8%, according to TransUnion Philippines.
Social engineering was identified as the top cyber threat to Philippine financial institutions in a 2025 study by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), as reported by the Philippine Star.
For brokers and intermediaries, the PhilHealth case is a reminder that impersonation fraud does not only target consumers. Brokerages can be impersonated too. A fraudster posing as a broker or carrier executive can redirect premium payments, alter policy instructions, or extract sensitive client data.
Conor Keating, head of cyber in Asia at Willis, said in June 2026 that artificial intelligence “is already amplifying existing threats” facing the insurance sector, though it has not yet become a standalone driver of cyber claims.
Read more: Organised fraud is outgrowing Asia-Pacific’s cyber insurance market
The commercial gap is significant. Swiss Re estimated global cyber premiums at US$15.6 billion for 2025, with Asia-Pacific accounting for roughly 10% of that total. Set against regional fraud losses in the tens of billions of dollars, the coverage shortfall is wide.
In the Philippines, overall insurance penetration reached 1.96% of GDP in Q2 2026, according to the Insurance Commission (IC). Cyber-specific coverage remains a small fraction of the non-life market, which collected PHP 44.19 billion in premiums during the same period, the Philippine Star reported.
PhilHealth urged anyone who encounters suspicious messages to report them to its Corporate Action Center or the nearest regional office.
“PhilHealth reminds the public that all legitimate transactions and inquiries must be routed through our PhilHealth Regional Offices (PROs) or Local Health Insurance Offices (LHIOs),” the agency said.
The corporation listed its verified channels, including its website (www.philhealth.gov.ph), its 24/7 hotline at (02) 8662-2588, and its accounts on Facebook and X.
PhilHealth did not disclose the number of individuals affected or any financial losses connected to the scam.
Executive impersonation schemes targeting insurers and government health bodies are becoming more common across Asia-Pacific. For brokers, this creates a dual concern: protecting their own firms from brand exploitation, and advising clients on social engineering and cyber fraud coverage at a time when take-up in the region remains low relative to the exposure.
