Globe records daily average of 2.4M scam text messages blocked

Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. on Monday said it blocked over 30 million scam and spam text messages with clickable links in a two-week period, following repeated orders from the government to issue warnings against such schemes.

Globe said it blocked over 32.2 million scam messages from September 28 to October 13, indicating a daily average of 2.4 million SMS with clickable links blocked.

“The amount of text messages with clickable links we blocked within just about two weeks shows the staggering number of spam and scam SMS that disrupt and threaten customers every day,” Globe chief information security officer Anton Bonifacio said in an emailed statement.

“This is empirical proof that our security measure was warranted,” he added.

The company said it has already spent P1.1 billion to boost its systems against spam and scam SMS, with its Security Operations Center working round the clock.

Globe said it started blocking SMS with clickable links in the last week of September, as ordered by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on September 13.

It said spam and scam messages from January to end-September this year hit 1.3 billion, surpassing the 1.15 billion messages blocked for the full-year 2021.

The monthly total of blocked SMS has also recorded a 195.74% increase over nine months from 68.34 million in January to 270.5 million in September.

“We reiterate our call on our customers to remain vigilant as fraudsters will continue to find ways to circumvent measures that aim to thwart them. Do not engage with SMS from anonymous sources making enticing offers,” said Bonifacio.

The NTC earlier in September also again directed telecommunications companies to warn the public against the proliferation of personalized text scams or unsolicited text messages containing the names of intended recipients.

For its part, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it is now coordinating with other countries to issue warrants against those involved in smishing schemes.—AOL, GMA News