By Alec Go
Malacaῆang on Tuesday (Nov. 23) said the government is looking into the recent spam messages offering job opportunities to the public, and considered the ploy a “cause for concern” on privacy.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) “is already investigating the matter,” and that it is also within the National Privacy Commission’s (NPC) “purview and mandate” to probe the incident.
“Kapag privacy issue ‘yan, it’s always a cause of concern, not only for the IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force], but for government and the public,” he said.
In a separate briefing, NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro advised the public to block the numbers and report the spamming tactic to the NTC and NPC.
“Lalansingin lamang nito upang magbigay ng inyong personal details at ang pinakamalaking peligro nito ay nanakawan ka ng pera in real time,” he said, adding that scammers tend to ask for money and leave the victim afterwards.
The privacy official said there is no evidence yet on whether the proliferation of unwanted messages is due to leaked contact tracing forms since massive operations would require huge databases.
“It is an organized, international o global na sindikato ang gumagawa nito at gumagamit ng mga numero na nakuha po nila sa marahil sa ibang paraan,” he said.
“Maaaring nanggaling po ‘yan sa mga dating na-breach o na-hack… Ginagalugad na rin natin ang dark web dito upang malaman kung mayroon nga pong nagte-trade nitong mga numbers ng mga Pilipino,” he added.
In a statement on Nov. 23, telecommunications company Globe said they have “deactivated 5,670 confirmed spam numbers” and “blocked close to 71 million spam messages” this year.
Smart was also reported to have blocked up to 15,000 numbers between late October and November due to spam messages.
Suspected spam cases may be reported through https://ntc.gov.ph/complaint and www.globe.com.ph/stopspam. –bny
Watch the full interview with Comm. Liboro here:
