A day before the national elections, former MMDA chair Benhur Abalos warned the public through a Facebook post to ignore messages from his “spoofed” [cellphone] number, which he had immediately suspended.
This after his Globe Telecom cellphone number has been allegedly hacked in the morning of May 8.
“It has been sending out unscrupulous messages. [I] went to Globe office this afternoon to complain [about the hacking incident] and had the number immediately suspended,” wrote Abalos Jr., who is the national campaign manager of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Abalos Jr. brought the matter before Globe and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
As per Globe’s findings, it was validated that Abalos’ number did not send out the said “unscrupulous messages”.
The Globe security operations team further noted that Abalos is possibly a victim of illegal broadcaster devices prohibited by the NTC under “The Radio Control Law”.
The NTC said it is still currently investigating the matter in coordination with Globe Telecom, but agrees with the latter that it may be a classic case of “SMS spoofing”.
Spoofing SMS messages is possible with the illegal use of cell broadcasters. Using base station technology, these devices can detect active cellphones within a certain range and directly transmit SMS messages via frequencies that are sent from the machine.
According to Kaspersky, a cybersecurity solutions provider, phone number spoofing allows scammers to trick individuals to believe they are receiving calls or messages from a particular number — a disguise — to entice them to fall for their malicious motivations.
The NTC has given limited authority to use cell broadcasters for alerts and warnings during disasters and emergencies only. Unfortunately, these machines are being used illegally to spread disinformation, the Ayala-owned carrier said.
NTC commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba warned that owners of illegal broadcaster devices and their operators will face criminal and civil penalties.
