One of the biggest news stories last July was when President Bongbong Marcos announced during his SONA that all POGOs–short for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator–would be banned. Since the POGO Ban announcement, there are claims that text scams have been reduced–at least according to House Deputy Speaker David Suarez. “Before I used to have four or five scam […]
It has been more than a year since the SIM Registration Law has been passed. The registration was even extended in efforts other than curb dubious SIM numbers. However, text scams remained to be rampant despite the SIM Registration Law, and the DICT admitted that there are loopholes to it that scammers took advantage of. […]
Text scams are a common occurrence in the Philippines, and it can be challenging to differentiate them from legitimate messages, now even containing the full name of the recipient. They may come from unknown numbers, claiming job offers, cash prizes, discounts, or even pose as a relative asking for money or load. It is important […]
As the investigation on the proliferation of text scams in the Philippines is ongoing, Smart believes that it’s possible that foreign criminals operating large syndicates are the ones behind it. “It is highly possible that foreigners are behind the text scams that have plagued mobile users in the country. They are working with domestic operators […]
While the NTC is coordinating with telco providers in investigating the proliferation of text scams in the Philippines, Smart released a infographic that details their efforts in combatting them. In the said infographic (which you can see below), Smart is happy to report that it has blocked 11.3 billion attempts to access malicious sites from […]
Following the NTC’s admission that contact tracing forms might be the cause for the proliferation of scam text messages–a statement that is similar to what Smart said in their press statement–the NPC has revealed in their investigation that these smishing messages “appear to have been sent using specific mobile number registered to certain texting services.” […]
There has been a data leak causing mobile users to receive personalized scam messages. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is pointing at contact tracing platforms as the main culprit. NTC Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios acknowledged that the spam texts “possibly” came from contact tracing platforms, which are mandatory forms for Filipinos entering establishments such as […]
Spam messages have become more prevalent than ever. And just recently, these messages became personalised with the private information of recipients, such as their names. To address this text scam problem, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has issued Memorandum Order No. 006-09-2022. The recently issued NTC memorandum orders all mobile phone manufacturers, distributors, and resellers […]
While we have suspicions that the proliferation of scam text messages could have possibly stemmed from contact tracing forms, Smart has reiterated that they are committed in strengthening its cybersecurity infrastructure and that it ensures all of its subscribers that its systems are safe from any form of data breach. Based on their recent findings […]
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has recently made a statement in response to the data breach allegations against contact tracing data privacy. This civil unrest stems from countless individuals receiving suspicious spam messages, usually discussing bogus job offers with suspicious links. The SMS phishing tactic in question was designed to steal sensitive information, leading to […]