Globe, the Philippines’ Mobile leader, is ready to provide necessary support in the Senate’s upcoming investigation on spam and scam SMS, which continue to spread despite the enforcement of the SIM Registration Act.
Globe will send representatives to the September 5 hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services chaired by Sen. Grace Poe to share Globe’s initiatives against spam and scam SMS and insights on how to address the continuously evolving schemes of fraudsters.
“Globe is a steadfast ally of the government especially in matters that affect our customers. We are ready to work with the Senate in responding to the prevalence of spam and scam SMS, with fraudsters apparently circumventing the SIM Registration Act with new ways to bait potential victims,” said Atty. Froilan Castelo, General Counsel of the Globe Group.
Globe also reminded the public to always be vigilant and refrain from sharing sensitive information online which cybercriminals may obtain and use to illegally access their personal accounts.
“Just as we learn how to optimize new technologies, fraudsters also do the same and come up with ingenious ways to corrupt the best technologies for criminal ends. We, therefore, appeal to mobile users to also take personal responsibility in protecting themselves. Please do not share too much information online that criminals may use to access your bank accounts, e-wallets and other sensitive personal accounts,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe Group Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer.
“Information security is a shared responsibility of all. If you receive a message from someone you don’t know, report the number to our #StopSpam portal or the Philippine National Police hotlines, and then block the number on your mobile phone. These cybercriminals will never stop at finding ways to get the next victim. Don’t let it be you,” she added.
Globe explained that despite SIM identification via the SIM Registration Act, fraudsters are still able to anonymously send out spam and scam messages that circumvent telco networks by at least two ways:
l Use of over-the-top messaging apps, including using unregistered SIMs to create accounts in these apps before the July 30 deactivation
l Use of overseas numbers that are outside the ambit of the SIM registration law
To protect themselves, mobile users with Android devices may install in-device spam filters to filter out malicious SMS. Check out this Globe video to learn how. They may also report via Globe’s #StopSpam portal/or the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group hotline numbers 0966 627 1257 and 0968 867 4302.
Globe continues to proactively block spam and scam SMS including all person-to-person SMS with links, logging record numbers of blocked text messages, at 2.2 billion from January to June 2023 alone. This figure is a nearly four-fold increase from the 615.01 million it logged in the same period last year, and is closely approaching the 2022 full-year record of 2.72 billion blocked messages.
It runs a 24/7 Security Operations Center fitted with technology and equipment where Globe has invested US$20 million.(PR)
