By Gabriela Baron
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reminded the public to be vigilant against fraud perpetrated through unsolicited emails or text messages with links redirecting to suspicious websites.
“These include smishing, a form of phishing scam where a fraudster sends a text message to trick a user into clicking on a malicious link. This malicious link, when clicked, automatically downloads malwares and/or redirects to websites that collect information that may be used for fraud,” BSP explained.
To prevent this, BSP advised the public to “carefully scrutinize messages” and to refrain from clicking links even if they appear to be coming from banks, e-money issuers, or known companies or brands.
“The BSP reiterates that legitimate financial institutions will not ask for personal details and/or account credentials (e.g., username, password, OTP or one-time pin/password) from their customers via text messages or by sending links to websites,” it added.
“Such websites may have been created by scammers to trick a user into disclosing login credentials, personal data, bank or credit card details, or passwords; or to introduce mobile malware.”
BSP also advised the public to check for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar mistakes as legitimate banks, e-money issuers, and companies “exert extra effort to maintain professional websites without such errors.”
Consumers who have experienced smishing attempts are advised to report these to their banks or e-money providers immediately.
BSP then reminded the public to always protect their personal information and account details.
