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Telcos warn subscribers about new Text Scam

Globe Telecoms and Smart Communications have issued a warning to the public about a new scam that involves receiving SMS and voice calls from an anonymous person asking for ransom and claiming that one of the subscriber’s loved ones were kidnapped.

According to reports, the modus operandi includes a person guised as a customer service rep from one of the telcos asking a user (the one who is alleged to be abducted) to turn off their handset for 2 hours for a “network-related upgrade” either through phone call or SMS.

After that, the fake rep or an accomplice will contact the subscriber’s family and/or relative claiming that their love one was kidnapped and is asking for a ransom for his/her release. It’s also been said that the group will even ask somebody to cry for help on the background to make their ploy even more believable.

“We reiterate and warn the public of these criminal elements capitalizing on our network modernization initiatives. Customers who receive suspicious calls from persons claiming to be Globe agents should clarify with our customer service personnel,”

– Vicente Froilan M. Castelo, General Counsel of Globe Telecoms

In a statement, Mr. Castelo states that Globe Telecoms “will never ask its customers to turn off their cell phones for any network-related purpose and those who receive such calls should immediately report the numbers used for the call.”

Both Smart Communications and Globe Telecoms have already put up their respective initiatives to lessen, if not totally eliminate any kind of scams involving SMS and voice calls. Subscribers can report any suspicious numbers by following the procedures listed on our previous post.

{Source}

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Avatar for Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

7 Responses

  1. Avatar for jaybee jaybee says:

    Tadtad ako ng spam simula ng nag globe postpaid ako. . Atleast 5 messages bawat araw sa ibat ibang number. Useless i block ang number.

  2. Avatar for BezelniAbuzalzal BezelniAbuzalzal says:

    Isa lang yong solusyon dito. Lahat na prepaid SIM dapat meron ng registration. Bago ka bumili telco will need your personal information just like in Singapore. Walang scam dahil yong sim card ay naka registered at mahuli agad ng authority kapag rumaraket ng ganitong estilo.

  3. Avatar for abc abc says:

    . I quickly turned on my cell phone and saw several missed calls from my family members and the others were from the number that had called me earlier.”

    yan yung kwento nung nagsabi na nangyari sa kanya to…paano mo makikita ang mga miscalls kung hindi ka naman makokontak kapag naka off ang cellphone mo?

    okay ang magingat pero mas maganda kung hindi agad agad maniniwala sa mga kwentong kumalat lang sa internet.

    • Avatar for bryan_mmx bryan_mmx says:

      yup yup. the biggest giveaway.

      this is an old chain post in FB that the telcos treated as real. there probably isn’t any real documented reports of such modus anywhere in the world.

  4. Avatar for secret secret says:

    Pero wag ka, mga sales rep mismo ng mga telco ang nagbebenta ng mga number ng mga subscribers lalo na pag postpaid. .katatanggap mo palang ng unit, kung sino sino na ang nagtetext sau. .mga siraulo kayo.

  5. Avatar for secret secret says:

    Pero wag ka, mga sales rep mismo ng mga telco ang nagbebent ng mga number ng mga subscribers lalo na pag postpaid. .katatanggap mo palang ng unit, kung sino sino na ang nagtetext sau. .mga siraulo kayo.

  6. Avatar for easy e easy e says:

    There should be an SOP within the family what to do during an emergency to avoid these things. Hindi rin masama kung may 2nd line tayo or back-up sim/phone para lagi tayong reacheable. Ingats.

    Pag may tumatawag sa akin claiming that they are from my provider at hindi special number ang gamit, ako mismo ang umuusisa sa caller kung totoong from my service provider sya by asking information about my line na yung company lang ang nakakaalam.

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