In its efforts to combat scammers using sophisticated methods, Globe has removed all clickable links from its official customer advisories–particularly with its 8080 SMS channel. Recently, Globe’s subscribers have been receiving scam messages that use 8080 or the “Globe” sender ID, where these messages use a fake Globe link to lure them into phishing sites.
An example of this suspicious message is shared by Facebook user Kat Viray, where Globe’s official 8080 channel was used to send a message with a very unusual clickable link. Globe explained that this occurs as scammers use a fake cell tower or base station to send these spoof messages using the telco’s official channels.
Being aware of such sophisticated scheme, Globe has informed all of its subscribers that it does not broadcast any SMS advisories with clickable links to combat this new modus. This is similar to what was done with GCash, where transaction notifications are now directed to the app instead of being sent as an SMS message.
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These spoofed messages make it very hard for customers to discern between a legitimate message and a scam SMS. To help them distinguish between real and fake, we are no longer adding links to our official customer advisories,” Globe Chief Information Security Officer Anton Bonifacio said.
