PLDT Group warns subscribers of unclickable links

The PLDT Group reminded its subscribers to be vigilant against the new tactics being deployed by scammers.

File photo: Smart logo

Smart exposes scammers' new modus

In a statement, PLDT said the improved blocking tool of wireless arm Smart Communications against text scams has prompted cybercriminals to explore more ways to reach potential victims.

Smart's much improved blocking capabilities have prevented a significant number of SMShing messages from reaching customers. But scammers keep looking for new ways to run their phishing activities. They now send unclickable links, but with the same goal of luring customers into opening malicious domains, said Jojo G. Gendrano, SVP and Chief Information Security Officer at PLDT and Smart.

According to Smart's investigation, scammers replace the dots in a URL with another character like "underscore" or "slash" to mask or conceal the hyperlinks. They will then ask potential victims to manually copy the address, place it on their browser, and replace the special characters with dots, thereby activating the link.

Another method is sending what may look like IP addresses but are numeric clickable links.

From January to June, Smart said it blacklisted more than 615,788 mobile numbers linked to illicit and fraudulent activities.

It also urges its customers to report suspicious messages or calls to cybersecurityincidents@smart.com.ph and cybersecurityincidents@pldt.com.ph or to Smart's verified and official social media pages - Smart Communications on Facebook and @SmartCares on X, formerly Twitter.