Smart Communications believes that foreign syndicates could be bankrolling text scams targeting Filipinos, a sentiment shared by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
PLDT and Smart’s Cyber Security Operations Group (CSOG) found that the latest smishing attacks are most likely being sent person-to-person and not from aggregators.
For their part, Smart has intensified efforts against ‘smishing’ attacks. From June to August alone, Smart has deactivated 167,000 SIMs that were involved in the illegal activity.
Smart has thrown its support behind the proposed SIM card registration bill recently approved on second reading by lawmakers. Prepaid SIMs in the Philippines are often sold without getting the customer’s personal information.
While waiting for the measure to be enacted into law, Smart says it is streamlining the process to efficiently collect relevant customer data and ensure that these are protected at all levels. It’s also checking vulnerabilities of other platforms that scammers might exploit once the law takes into effect.
Smart has also welcomed the government-led joint investigation into the illegal activity. It has been closely coordinating with law enforcers and regulators to net the persons behind the modus.
See also: Stay safe from smishing scams: Delete text messages with suspicious links from unknown numbers
Customers are encouraged to report smishing incidents and fraudulent activities to cybersecurityincidents@smart.com.ph.
