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Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Malig: Free text rip-offs
By Jun A. Malig
"WELCOME to SMART 258 Unlimited PROMO. Congrats! U win P500 load from SMART ZED. Type 09214757396 den Triple SEND to 808 so U can claim ur 500 load NOW. Thank U. SMART ZED DTI # 32524."
This was the message I received at 7:35 p.m. last July 5. It was one of the most stupid text messages I ever received since I started using a cellular phone almost a decade ago. Upon receiving the text scam, my instinctive reaction was to send a sarcastic reply to the sender of the moronic message. But I decided to just ignore it and store it in my mobile phone's inbox for future reference.
Although I am a postpaid subscriber, I am no stranger to forwarding call and text "loads". Of course, it is usually hard to say no to teenage cousins and relatives when they ask for "pasaload". I guess the sender of the text scam was hoping to victimize greenhorns, since every Smart subscriber, especially those using prepaid SIM cards, knows that 808 is the "pasaload" number. Most Smart subscribers are also aware that ZED's number is 288 (not 09214757396 or 808).
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) recently raised its concern about the increasing number of Filipinos abroad who fall prey to similar scams. Many Filipinos in other countries, mostly contract workers, opt to bring and use international-roaming capable Smart or Globe prepaid SIM cards to their destinations. The reason is economics. It would be a lot cheaper for them to receive text messages from their loved ones in the Philippines through Smart or Globe prepaid SIM cards.
Globe Telecom has already expressed its aggressive campaign against the text rip-offs that victimize wireless phone subscribers locally and overseas. The company said subscribers should also be vigilant against fraudulent text messages and emails they receive through their mobile phones.
Earlier, the Philippine Consulate in Honolulu, Hawaii asked the NTC to beef up its monitoring activities against text scams after a Filipino couple in the island-state was duped for US$2,100 (about (P115,500) by a similar text scam. In response, the NTC strengthened the inter-agency group that it had created last year to go after persons involved in fraudulent text messages.
Globe has advised its subscribers to refrain from entertaining text messages about free loads, cash prizes and related "promotions" coming from regular 10-digit mobile numbers, "as these are just scams being perpetrated by lawless elements." It said the telecom company uses a four-digit number to send out notices and sell promos. (Smart, on the other hand, usually uses three-digit numbers). Officials of Globe also urged its subscribers to inform its customer service hotline upon receipt of text scams coming from Globe numbers so they could take the necessary actions.
A sample of the fraudulent message presented by the company goes like this: "Globe Telecom G-cash: Congrats for winning Nokia 7610 in our network. To claim your prize pls call toll free #09275979099 DTI NCR permit #2838 series of 2005." It said once the unsuspecting victim calls the number, he will be asked to buy call cards in exchange for the prize. Another version of scam involves a swindlers posing as representatives of government agencies like the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, or the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Through this kind of scam, the swindlers try to make their victims remit or deposit money in designated bank accounts - before they could redeem their supposed cash prizes in make-believe contests that they never joined.
In 2003, the Anti-Money-Laundering Council has estimated that text scams defrauded naive subscribers by about P5 million. The NTC has also admitted that scams perpetrated through text messaging have been rampant in the last three years.
Text scams do not only victimize Filipinos. A message posted by a New Zealander in Auckland at an Internet-based community billboard last year stated a similar case. He received this text message: "You just won US$50 credit on your phone thanks to Boost Mobile. All you have to do is forward this text to 10 people. Hook Up! THIS WRKS!" The guy said the text message came from 021. He said he got suspicious of the message because Boost usually uses 027 and 025.
The NTC has issued this official warning: "The public is hereby advised to be vigilant and not fall prey to fraudulent text messages presently circulating, informing persons that they won prizes from an entity-sponsored raffle, especially messages coming from regular ten digit-Globe, Smart and Sun Cellular Numbers. If you will receive such message, kindly inform us at telephone numbers 9267722, 4367722 or send an e-mail to ospac@ntc.gov.ph."
(October 4, 2005 issue)
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