Globe warns public against scams anew
GLOBE reiterates its call for the public to exercise extra vigilance, as law enforcers warned of a fresh rise in online and text fraud.
Anton Bonifacio, Globe chief information security officer, says fraudsters are finding new ways to bait potential victims to circumvent the SIM Registration Act and sustained industry efforts to block spam and scam short message service (SMS).
Bonifacio says scammers are increasingly shifting to over-the-top media services such as chat apps and spoofing, or the use of illegal devices to trick customer phones.
Police data shows that cases of cyber identity theft in the Philippines have increased by 12.2 percent in 2023.
Globe’s own data shows that scam and spam texts continued to increase with 5.48 billion unwanted SMS blocked in 2023. Globe has been stringent in fending off scam and spam SMS, blocking all person-to-person SMS with uniform resource locators since September 2022.
Globe has seen a marked decline in bank-related spam and scam SMS blocked in 2023 at 21.9 million, owing to Globe’s anti-fraud partnerships with major banks and financial institutions.
Through its 24/7 #StopSpam portal, Globe has also blocked a total of 220,669 SIMs in 2023.
Other than blocking efforts, Globe continues its public campaign on online safety, chiefly and recently teaching senior citizens about the risks to watch out for when using apps.
Globe has recently spent $90 million to boost cybersecurity, complementing the $20-million infrastructure it has earlier invested in to fight spam and scam messages.