Muntinlupa mayor not spared from personalized spam texts

MANILA, Philippines — Even Muntinlupa City Mayor Rufino Biazon was not spared from personalized spam text messages.

Biazon on Friday shared on Twitter a screenshot of a spam message he received which contained his full name.

The unnamed sender of the text message told Biazon that he won P6,000. Included in the message is a link where the local chief executive can supposedly claim his prize.

“These spam messages have my data without my permission,” he said.

The Muntinlupa government urged the public not to click spam text messages on their cell phones.

Brig. Gen. Joel Doria, director of the police Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG), on Friday appealed to the public not to entertain spam messages even if it contained their names.

“Scammers will employ different modus to get people to believe their lies to rob you of your savings. That is why ACG continuously reminds everyone to be vigilant and to be aware of the different tactics of fraudsters,” he said in a statement.

Doria gave the reminder following reports of personalized spam text messages that have been received by people in the past days.

According to the police official, there are numerous possibilities on how scammers get hold of the personal information of cell phone users.

Among these are thru the purchase of bulk mobile numbers being sold illegally either on the dark web; through social media platforms, websites and phone directories around the internet; through filled-up raffle tickets, and all kinds of standard application forms.

It can also be acquired thru random typing of numbers in social media messaging apps like Viber which when added, the messaging app will automatically supply the person’s name.

Investigation by the ACG showed the senders’ numbers are not linked to any social media accounts, messaging apps and digital wallets to avoid identification.