Charles Teves
Like many Filipinos, Angelica Panganiban has expressed concerns over spam text messages that include the receiver’s first name.
In a tweet, the actress revealed that she had constantly been blocking messages from numbers that are clearly scams.
“What are the chances na kapag bago na ang phone number mo, hindi ka na matetext ng mga nagsasabing “beshie its your lucky day” or “you are now hired” or “we are hiring” napakadami ko nang na block.” she wrote.
Most messages are disguised as job offers to prompt the user to click on a dubious link. In the actress’ case, the link was “philnewz.com/login.”
Panganiban isn’t new to spam messages, but the latest one surprised her as it contained her first name and the initial of her surname.
“Hi ANGELICA P., No fee, No ID, No problem. Join and get 60p now!” the spam message read.
What are the chances na kapag bago na ang phone number mo, hindi ka na matetext ng mga nagsasabing “beshie its your lucky day” or “you are now hired” or “we are hiring” napakadami ko nang na block pic.twitter.com/IW5gnqFD34
— Angelica Panganiban (@angelica_114) July 13, 2022
Renowned economic analyst Edson Guido has also brought up the problem on his Twitter account. He would just block spam messages from unknown cellphone numbers but his name being mentioned was alarming.
Guido has now lost confidence in the data privacy provided for phone users.
“Yung mga scam text messages ngayon sobrang alarming na ah. Dati blinoblock ko lang, pero ngayon pati pangalan ko alam na nila?? Ganito rin ba sa inyo?” he tweeted.
One of his relatives, who he says has never used his/her phone number on any app, also received spam messages.
Yung isang relative ko, never ginamit ang number niya for any app pero nakatanggap pa rin ng message na may full name niya.
Kaya ingat po tayong lahat. Maging mapanuri at huwag magpaloko 🙏🏻
— Edson C. Guido (@EdsonCGuido) August 30, 2022
Some users are also called scammers.
Ang dami na palang nakakatanggap ng ganitong mga texts at may mga ibang tinatawagan pa. Paano kapag sa susunod hindi lang full name at number natin ang lumabas diba?
Sa sobrang dami ng napanalunan natin kuno sa mga scam na yan, ang yaman na nating lahat 🤦♂️
— Edson C. Guido (@EdsonCGuido) August 30, 2022
Justice Marvic Leonen has suggested that someone close to the higher-ups has leaked people’s information.
Unsolicited or scam text messages on our phones already contain our names. This means that there is a data provider out there that has leaked or sold or been careless about our information. This makes all of us now vulnerable.
Very dangerous.
— Marvic Leonen — maroon check (@marvicleonen) August 31, 2022
“This means that there is a data provider out there that has leaked or sold or been careless about our information. This makes all of us now vulnerable,” he wrote.
The scammers have also resorted to pretending to be a figure of authority.
Text message scams have gotten so bad, that scammers would not only take note of your name, but would also threaten you with a made up case. My fiancée’s mother received this text earlier. Please warn your family members. pic.twitter.com/k9YH4g85wU
— Paulus (@paulus_sapien) August 30, 2022
In an August 26 memorandum, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) urged telecommunication companies to warn users of such spam texts.
The National Telecommunications Commission orders telcos to blast warnings against the proliferation of fake job text, lucky winner, and similar money scams. pic.twitter.com/5g793SjSH7
— Ted Cordero (@Ted_Cordero) August 31, 2022
