Globe Telecom on Wednesday advised its subscribers not to entertain text messages from anonymous sources.
In a statement, Globe cautioned its customers “not to respond or engage text messages received involving promos, job offers and other unsolicited products and services” in light of the recent proliferation of spam text messages.
The telco also echoed the National Privacy Commission’s (NPC) initial finding that the scheme is perpetuated by an organized global syndicate.
“This elaborate scam is likely run by a global crime syndicate, and not unique to the Philippines, as earlier reported,” it said.
As part of its efforts to deter text scams, Globe said its dedicated cybersecurity team has deactivated 5,670 confirmed spam numbers and blocked close to one billion spam messages so far this year.
“Globe is one with the government in intensifying efforts to stamp out scammers and fraudsters as it called on industry stakeholders to strengthen ‘threat intelligence sharing’ initiatives,” it said.
The telco said it is ready to collaborate with other stakeholders to help protect Filipino customers from smishing and other fraudulent activities.
It said that smishing occurs through mobile text messaging in which scammers deceive victims into giving their personal data.
Scammers then use this data to take over a victim’s financial accounts.
“At the end of the day, we need to move very swiftly in preventing fraudulent attacks from reaching our customers, and we know we cannot do it alone. We need to improve private sector partnerships on top of what has already been a robust public sector enablement through the National Privacy Commission. Strength in numbers is key,” said Anton Bonifacio, Globe’s chief information security officer.
“We believe that pursuing fraud detection and prevention, and consequently, deactivating mobile numbers found to be spewing fraudulent messages, without the need of a court order, constitutes legitimate interest and do not override our customers’ fundamental rights and freedoms; rather, our proactive efforts to combat spam and fight fraud uphold these rights and freedoms, enabling them to transact worry-free through our digital channels,” added Atty. Irish Salandanan-Almeida, Globe’s data protection officer.
Globe said it would also comply with the National Telecommunications Commission’s (NTC) order to warn customers about dubious text messages. — VBL, GMA News
Globe: Nearly 1 billion spam messages blocked so far this year
Source: News Panda Philippines
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