SSS warns vs fake text alerts

The Social Security System (SSS) on Thursday issued a warning to the public and its members about text messages from unscrupulous individuals pretending to be SSS, promising its recipients an incentive by accessing a link.

In an advisory, SSS senior vice president for Member Services and Support Group Normita Doctor said the SSS has been receiving reports from members that they have received text alerts about benefit claims, expiring contribution payments, or My.SSS registration urging them to click a link.

“Do not click the link in the message of these fake text alerts. It will lead to a phishing site that will steal personal information such as SS numbers and login credentials from My.SSS account,” Doctor said.

Doctor explained that its members and the public can easily identify if they have received a scam text alert by checking its sender.

“The SMS sender should be ‘SSS’ and the official SSS website is www.sss.gov.ph. If it is an unidentified mobile number, it is a text message from scammers purposely sent to deceive its receiver,” she said.

“Our SSS Special Investigation Department (SID) has already probed the incidents. We also submitted a Text Scam Complaint containing these fake text alerts to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to help the government fight scam text messages,” she added.

The SSS official discouraged recipients from sharing their SS number, usernames, passwords, and other login details of their My.SSS account with these scammers so their My.SSS accounts will not be compromised and be used for fraudulent transactions.

Doctor advised those who have become victims of these text scammers to directly report it to law enforcement authorities such as the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group and the National Bureau of Investigation’s Cybercrime Division.

“With the assistance of our SSS SID, victims can help law enforcement agencies in filing a case against text scammers. They can report text scammers to SID via email at fid@sss.gov.ph or through telephone at (02) 89247370,” she said. — Ted Cordero/RSJ, GMA Integrated News