Philippines’ PLDT blocks 23 million texts in sign of scam threat

An employee checks her phone at a Merzci bread and pastries store in Bacolod, the Philippines. The “malicious” messages, blocked from June 11 to 14, contained links to so-called phishing websites that posed as legitimate organisations such as banks, tour operators and recruitment agencies, PLDT said in a statement on June 20. — Bloomberg

In just three days, Philippines-based telecommunications provider PLDT Inc blocked more than 23 million text messages that try to get consumer’s personal data, showing heightened cybersecurity risks in the nation.

The “malicious” messages, blocked from June 11 to 14, contained links to so-called phishing websites that posed as legitimate organisations such as banks, tour operators and recruitment agencies, PLDT said in a statement on June 20.

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Philippine telecoms have boosted efforts to curb fraud. PLDT had blocked almost 78,000 SIM cards that tried to steal personal data, and invested 3bil pesos (US$55.6mil or RM244.36mil) last year to counter cyberthreats. Rival Globe Telecom Inc said it blocked over a billion dubious mobile-phone messages last year.

The National Privacy Commission said in November that a global crime syndicate was behind a surge of scam messages soliciting personal information. – Bloomberg