NTC Intensifies Campaign vs Text Scams

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in the region intensified their campaign against text scam messages.

NTC Legal Officer Atty. Allan Macaraya said the public should ignore text scam messages on their mobile devices during the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) 7 – Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO) 7 Forum held recently at the PIA-7 Regional Office, Cebu City.

Macaraya reported that their office receives 100 complaints in a year like “pasaload” scam, or text messages about accidents involving a relative or informing the recipient of winning in a raffle.

According to NTC, the public should confirm first if the text messages they received are sent from an 11-digit number because it is a private number or owned by an individual.

“The duly registered numbers by the commission with 3 to 4 digits or with the name of the Telecommunication Companies like Smart or Globe will appear in the mobile text messages,” explained Macaraya.

NTC officials encouraged the subscribers once they received the text scam messages to report immediately to their office so that they could file and forward it to their Central Office. Once the cellphone number is identified as being used to send text scam messages, they will block the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, said Macaraya.

NTC Engineer III, Engr. Bill Peralta also requested the subscribers to provide all the details required and numbers that are reported as source of text scams. The blocking of cellphone will take three weeks to one month due to the numbers of complainants coming from the different regions, explained Peralta.

Macaraya said that subscribers can also file their complaints directly to the Telecommunication Companies to be acted right away.

Meanwhile, NTC officials will double their efforts to keep the public informed and educate to avoid or ignore text scam messages in order to get away from these unscrupulous activities.(rmn/hfg/PIA-7/AGIO-7)