Telco sees sharp decline in bank-related scam SMS

Globe has reported a significant decline in bank-related spam and scam SMS, attributing the success to its stringent anti-fraud measures and strategic collaborations with major financial institutions.

From January to June 2024, Globe intercepted 2,740,012 bank-related spam and scam messages, marking a 43.56% reduction from the 4,855,199 messages blocked in the same period in 2023.

The improvement follows Globe’s anti-fraud agreements with the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), which includes 45 major banks and other finance sector players.

These collaborations have facilitated timely data and intelligence-sharing, enhancing efforts to prevent and investigate fraud.

“Our collective efforts with the banking sector have significantly strengthened our fight against spam and scam SMS targeting depositors. By working together and sharing critical intelligence, combined with our enhanced detection and blocking systems, we can now better protect our customers from illegal activities,” said Anton Bonifacio, Globe’s Chief Information Security Officer and Chief AI Officer.

To bolster its anti-fraud efforts, Globe has allocated approximately USD 20 million to enhance its spam and scam SMS detection and blocking systems.

The company operates a 24/7 Security Operations Center that filters out unwanted messages, including app-to-person and person-to-person SMS from both international and domestic sources.

Despite this progress, Globe urges mobile users to remain vigilant against emerging scam schemes that bypass cellular networks, including the use of chat apps and fake cell towers that send undetectable messages.