NTC orders telcos to deactivate links in text scams

The National Telecommunications Commission orders telecommunication companies to deactivate malicious links sent by text scammers.

File photo: NTC logo

Authorities have issued a new directive against text scams

According to a report by ABS-CBN News on Tuesday, a September 12 memorandum was issued instructing telcos "to block or deactivate domains or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), TinyURLs, Smart Links and/or QR Codes from fraudulent sites."

This will be based on the database collected from agencies like the NTC, National Privacy Commission, Department of Trade and Industry, and law enforcement agencies, as well as subscriber reports and those generated from machine learning or artificial intelligence.

A written report of compliance should also be submitted to the NTC on or before September 16.

The public has raised concerns following the proliferation of text scams, which now even contain the users' real names.

NPC Complaints and Investigation Division chief Michael Santos earlier said that these personalized text scams may not be caused by a large-scale data breach, or because of contact tracing apps.

Kung meron siyang galing sa isang breach, we are not closing our doors, pero so far wala tayong indication na ganon ang way na naha-harvest ang pangalan and number, Santos told ABS-CBN News.

He said personal data of users could have been collected through data scraping and harvesting.

Law enforcers are already investigating and tracing the possible source of the malicious text messages. The Senate of the Philippines also launched its separate inquiry into the issue.

For now, telcos have been doing text blasts to remind their users not to click links from unknown senders. This was also an order made by the NTC.

Apps like mobile wallet GCash have also rolled out its username anonymity feature when sending money.

Here are also some tips on how you can add an additional layer of protection for yourself.

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Source: ABS-CBN