The Department of Information and Technology (DICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is coordinating with private telecommunication companies to find solutions to put an end to the newest text scams where scammers are able to use the actual names and systems of private companies to con the public.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said the scammers have upgraded their methods following the restrictions resulting from the implementation of the SIM registration.
Uy said scammers now use social media accounts and mobile applications to con others as well as use new equipment that allows them to tap into the system of the telcos and use their names to scam others.
“We have been warking with the telco providers as well as NTC to identify the specific technique the scammers are using. This is a very new methodology that we are seeing today. And the telcos are still analyzing their systems to see how the equipment is able to do that,” Uy said.
In a briefing in Malacanang, Uy said DICT had actually come across and confiscated some of these gadgets used by scammers to “hijack” the phone numbers of groups of people and use the name of big companies for fraudulent activities.
“In the past, the letters, you know the names, you need to be in the network and the telcos will have to give you the right to put those names on the network to blast those texts. But now, this new equipment is very modern and they can do that. So, the deception is even more effective because of that,” he said.
He said many of these equipment are actually smuggled into the country and even used by some politicians for text blasting messages and in their campaign.
Uy said scammers, who are usually involved in a “drive by hacking” scam, usually just bring these equipment in their vehicles, park in a crowded area and “hack” the mobile numbers of their victims and start text blasting fake messages. He added that there were actually a lot of such cases near the shopping mallsduring the Christmas holidays.
Meanwhile, the DICT is pushing for the amendment of the cybercrime law to better address the evolving tactics of scammers.
Uy said DICT is now working with Congress to introduce amendments to the cybercrime law “in order to have a more encompassing approach like in other countries. What they have legislated is a law against online harm.”
“So if you address online harm, that covers a lot. Whether it’s cybercrime, it’s scamming, it’s hacking, so long as you conduct activities that will cause harm to others online, then it is covered by that law,” Uy said.
