AMID fears of data leaks and breaches, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Friday, December 3, 2021, warned the public against the presence of bogus job offers being done through smishing.
Based on POEA Advisory No. 159 - 2021, the agency said aspiring overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should avoid falling for text messages supposedly offering jobs abroad and requires recipients to click on the accompanying link.
"In smishing, text messages promising employment and high salaries are sent to trick users to click on suspicious links. These links redirect users to fraudulent sites when clicked. These sites may steal users' personal data, introduce mobile malware, and even commit fraud," said the POEA.
"Applicants for overseas employment are reminded to avoid clicking on suspicious links, especially those coming from services and numbers which they did not sign up for," it added.
Instead of falling for them, the POEA said the public is advised to block the said numbers.
The POEA also encouraged the public to report the smishing incidents to their telecommunications provider, the National Privacy Commission, and the National Telecommunications Commission.
Recently, many Filipinos claimed to have received multiple spam messages that offer jobs, raffle promos, as well as cash deals.
Not a few believe that their contact information might have been sourced from contact tracing forms and apps that are part of Covid-19 protocols. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)