Globe said on Friday, July 19, that it has noted a substantial decrease in bank-related spam and scam SMS, stressing that its anti-fraud measures and collaboration with major financial institutions is working.
From January to June 2024, Globe said it intercepted 2,740,012 bank-related spam and scam messages, marking a 43.56% year-on-year decline compared to the 4,855,199 messages blocked in the same period of 2023.
The improvement follows Globe’s anti-fraud agreements with the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), encompassing 45 major banks, and various individual players in the finance sector.
These collaborations have enabled data and intelligence-sharing, aligning efforts to prevent and investigate fraud more effectively, the company said.
“Our collective efforts with the banking sector have significantly strengthened our fight against spam and scam SMS targeting depositors. By working together and sharing critical intelligence, combined with our enhanced detection and blocking systems, we can now better protect our customers from illegal activities,” said Anton Bonifacio, Globe chief information security officer and chief AI officer.
Globe said it has allocated approximately $20 million to enhance its spam and scam SMS detection and blocking systems to prevent fraudulent messages from reaching consumers.
The company said it operates a 25/7 Security Operations Center that filters out unwanted messages, including app-to-person and person-to-person SMS from international and domestic sources.
Amid this decline, Globe is calling on mobile users to remain vigilant amid emerging scam schemes that evade cellular networks, including the use of chat apps and fake cell towers that are able to send messages without telco detection.
