NTC, cell phone firms crack down on disaster-related scam texts

Amid the deluge of scam text messages taking advantage of recent disasters, the National Telecommunications Commission and cell phone firms on Thursday asked mobile phone subscribers to report any message from unknown senders that solicit donations. In advisories placed as full-page ads in major Metro Manila newspapers, the NTC and Globe, Smart and Sun networks vowed to block the offending senders, giving the public a list of mobile and landline numbers to report such spam. “If the messages come from 11-digit mobile numbers they are most likely scams. Save the messages and report these to the numbers below (and the) NTC and cell phone companies will then pursue the blocking of these numbers," they said in the ads. The NTC and the cell phone companies said examples of such scam messages include claims that the sender lost his or her phone to a flood and is asking for a load for the “new" number. “Nalubog celfone ko sa baha. Eto muna no. ko. Pdala naman ng load (My phone was lost in the flood, this is my new number. Send me load)," it cited an example of a scam message. Other scams involve asking for the PIN of a P300 or P500 load card, supposedly to sell the PIN at a profit in flood-hit areas. “Magpadala kayo card ng 500 tapos benta dito ng 1500 ang isa ... Nasan na mga card kailangan na dito ng mga bibili (Send the PIN of a P500 card because they sell for P1500 in these areas ... Where are the cards, buyers here want them)," said an example of the scam message. The NTC and cell phone firms advised recipients of such messages to “not reply" to them, and instead inform the NTC or the cell phone companies immediately. Also, the NTC and cell phone firms urged subscribers not to fall for scams that result in "vanishing loads," and to “read very carefully" any message that mentions a freebie come-on or similar promotion hook. They said the best defense against load decrease is to simply ignore messages coming from an unknown origin. “Replying to such messages can consume your load," they said. But they also urged subscribers to report unsolicited messages that promote subscription to value-added services immediately to NTC or the cell phone companies. NTC’s One-Stop Shop Public Assistance Center can be called at 9213251, 9267722, or 9204464, or emailed at ospac@ntc.com.ph. Its regional numbers include: * Region 1: 072-6075654 * Region 2: 078-8477071 * Region 3: 045-8617058 * Region 4: 043-7231245 * Region 5: 052-8420400 * Region 6: 033-3258519 * Region 7: 032-4226822 * Region 8: 053-3258519 * Region 9: 062-9911903 * Region 10: 088-2272328 * Region 11: 082-2960625 * Region 12: 083-3228808 * Caraga: 088-3428936 * Metro Manila: 02-9244072 The cell phone companies also gave their mobile and landline numbers that subscribers can use: Globe: 211 (mobile) or 02-7301000 (landline) Smart: 888 (mobile) or 02-8881111 (landline) Sun: 200 (mobile) or 02-3958000 (landline) - GMANews.TV