The National Privacy Commission (NPC) said the result of its initial investigation showed that the recent wave of targeted smishing messages that contain the recipient’s name most likely came from smartphones and not from an app used by data aggregators.
Mobile wallet provider GCash said it is set to move confirmation messages from text message inbox to the app inbox in a bid to improve security as well provide customers with easier access to their transaction history.
Smart Communications has cited a report from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suggesting that the personalized spam text messages proliferating recently could be the handiwork of scammers who mined subscriber data from GCash and Viber.
PLDT-owned mobile operator Smart Communications said it has blocked Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) or clickable links usually found in spam text messages.
The BSP said it recently completed the Advanced SupTech Engine for Risk-Based Compliance (ASTERisC*), which will soon be deployed among selected BSP Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs).
PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications have urged Internet users to be wary of websites they visit, especially those that require login credentials.
Scammers often use e-wallet accounts that are not registered under their names. Fraudsters are able to do this by using or buying SIM cards in the black market that are registered with e-wallets under people who sell or lend their identities.
Philippine companies paid $1.6 billion on average through the nose for ransomware attacks in 2022, making the country the third most-extorted by ransomware in the world next only to Japan and the Netherlands, according to cybersecurity firm Sophos.
