With the elections happening in a few days, hackers attempt to infiltrate networks and send spoofing messages using official messaging IDs like the one that Globe uses to send official announcements to its subscribers. The telco has issued an advisory regarding this, and informs everyone that it will never send any malicious message that’s of political nature–targeting prominent political figures.
“Globe wishes to clarify that the said message is a case of spoofing, where fraudsters send unauthorized SMS with a spoofed sender ID to mobile users in a particular area using fake cell towers,” Globe said in a statement.
For those unaware, spoofing uses an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catcher, which is a portable device that captures mobile users within a limited radius by forcing their signal to downgrade to 2G, the old cellular network technology for voice calls and texts. Because of that, messages sent via spoofing do not pass through the telco’s cellular network, thus bypassing its anti-fraud filters.
Globe adds that they are investigating the incident and “is working with relevant authorities and other partners to prevent a recurrence.” It also reminds everyone to be wary of suspicious text messages they receive and never engage with its senders.