6 syndicates possibly behind text scams, says DICT agency

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is investigating six syndicates believed to be behind the proliferation of text scam messages in the country.

According to Victoria Tulad and Dano Tingcungco’s report on “24 Oras,” CICC, an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), disclosed the information during the hearing of the Senate subcommittee on finance on Tuesday.

Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services and head of the finance subpanel, said she received information the StaySafe app may have been the source of the leaked details of mobile subscribers after its user data were allegedly sold to several casinos.

This was denied by Davil Almirol Jr.,  former chief executive officer (CEO) of MultiSys Technologies Corp.— the company behind the contact tracing application previously used by some local government units and business establishments during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Naibigay namin yung full access sa DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) so basically di na kami ang nagha-handle doon,” said Almirol Jr.

(We gave the full access to the DILG so basically, we’re not handling it.)

“Pero in terms of managing that, in fact, ang request ko sana Madam Chair, baka makatulong ang DICT uli doon kasi in terms of control and ownership ng data at system ay wala na po sa private nasa DILG na po,” he said.

(But in terms of managing  that, in fact, may I request that the DICT help on that again because in terms of control and ownership of the data and system, it’s not with the private sector anymore but with the DILG.)

GMA News reached out to the DILG for comment but has yet to respond as of press time.

Individuals who will receive spam messages may report to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) through its hotline: 926-7722.

Asked by Poe if it can be shortened, NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said they are now coordinating with telecommunications companies to change it into 1682.

“We're making sure na okay po siya at nagwo-work so we have to test it. But in the meantime, we have already issued press releases and an information drive for the email,” Cordoba said.

(We’re making sure it’s okay and that it works so we have to test it. But in the meantime, we already issued press releases and an information drive for the email.)

Senator Raffy Tulfo said he will recommend increasing the budget of CICC to strengthen the country’s defense against cyberattacks.

“Ako nga po ay magsu-suggest pa na bigyan kay nang maayos na budget, taasan pa ang budget ninyo. ‘Yun po ang gusto ko rito para maproteksyunan ang ating cyberspace against cyberattacks,” he added.

(I will suggest giving you a higher allocation to strengthen our protection against cyberattacks.)

The CICC further said it had formed a group of experts that is currently coordinating with a US-based company to train government personnel as regards cybersecurity. Meanwhile, the DICT has a set of tools and hardware to gather information on cyber threats.

Tech expert Art Samaniego, for his part, said children and the elderly are commonly victimized by text scams.

“Kasi because of the pandemic napilitan lahat na mag-online without knowing that it's really dangerous,” said Samaniego.

(We were all forced to go online because of the pandemic.)

“So kids were playing online games not knowing that these kids are being targeted by scammers. Ang mga bata ngayon mayroon na palang nagpapadala sa kanila ng mga load sa games. 'Yung mga virtual money in exchange, humihingi ng pictures, hinihingi address nila,” he added.

(So kids were playing online games not knowing that these kids are being targeted by scammers. The kids will be sent loads, and virtual monies in these games in exchange for their pictures and addresses.)

To prevent falling prey to any online or text scam, Samaniego advised the public to never click on any links included in the spam messages, to use two-factor authentication for email and social media accounts, and to avoid connecting to public wifi when conducting transactions that would include sensitive information such as one’s address.

“There's something called an evil twin. Ang evil twin is that when you connect to the access point pag-connect mo akala mo safe na 'yun, kokopyahin ng mga scammer or ng hackers ang access point. Lahat ng transaction nila mababasa mo,” he added.

(There's something called an evil twin. An evil twin is that when you connect to the access point, you think you’re safe. But scammers or hackers may copy your information through that access point. So all of your transactions will be monitored by scammers.)—LDF, GMA News