House probe sought into scam texts and spam messages
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Monday called on the House of Representatives to probe the recent spate of spam text messages and mobile scams around the country.
This comes as users on social media continue to report text messages from unknown mobile numbers notifying them of supposed job offers, prize awards, discount and sale links, and surveys, among others.
Rep. Carlos Zarate (Bayan Muna) in filing House Resolution No. 2393 called on the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Telecommunications Commission and National Privacy Commission to "immediately further strengthen their monitoring, safeguard and regulatory mechanisms to prevent and stop the proliferation of text scams that could affect and/or endanger the lives of the Filipino people, especially during this pandemic."
The Bayan Muna representative added that the DICT's mandate is "to ensure and protect the rights and welfare of consumers and business users to privacy, security, and confidentiality in matters relating to ICT."
FROM INTERAKSYON: NPC probes reports of spam text messages on sketchy job offers, free cash deals
For its part, the National Privacy Commission has since told banks, telcos, and e-commerce companies to explain their measures against smishing amid the recent surge.
“Ultimately, we want to secure their (companies) commitment and focus in fighting these fraudulent practices so we can best strategize how to block these messages and protect our data subjects,” NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro said in a statement.
“If our initial findings prove true, that personal data is being exploited by criminals abroad, then this also becomes a matter of national security,” he added.
Initial investigations by the NPC found that the recent smashing activities were run by a global crime syndicate and not by another group that supposedly gained access to contact tracing forms.
"Amid the ravages brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing dire economic situation of the country, it is unfortunate that some quarters take advantage of the situation by promoting various types of scams," Zarate said.
— Franco Luna with a report from Xave Gregorio
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