SENATORS on Wednesday warned the public about increasing incidents of text scams and asked law enforcers and the private sector to do something about it.
These text messages were usually about fake job opportunities promising high salaries, Senator Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares said in a statement. She urged the government and companies to act against syndicates “that have boosted their attacks on a massive scale and alarming pace.”
“The government should continuously beef up mechanisms, such as existing hotlines, where our people can report spams and scams and get immediate help in case they fall victim to fraud,” she said.
Senator Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos on Tuesday said the National Telecommunications Commission and National Privacy Commission (NPC) should work with telecommunication companies and online shopping platforms to develop a system that can block spams.
Senator Leila M. De Lima said text spams could hinder the government’s anti-coronavirus pandemic response. “Some are now hesitant to share their personal information on contact-tracing applications, blaming these as the reason why they are receiving spam messages,” she said in a separate statement.
The privacy commission earlier said the groups behind the text scams might belong to an international crime syndicate. It called data privacy officers from telecommunication companies to a meeting to solve the growing problem. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
