“Unsolicited or scam text messages on our phones already contain our names,” Supreme Court Justice Marvic Leonen tweeted on Wednesday. This implies that there is a data provider out there who has leaked, sold, or been negligent with our information. As a result, all of us are now vulnerable. “This is extremely dangerous.”

Leonen is referring to the most recent type of text scam that has made its way into Filipino inboxes, specifically mentioning the name of the mobile number user and thus posing a cybersecurity risk to the public.

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) announced on Wednesday that it has begun an investigation into the text scam reports.

In a message to the Inquirer, the NPC stated that it was working with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the Philippine National Police’s anti-cybercrime unit, and the major telecommunications companies to resolve the issue.

“We’ve started gathering information and discussing it with the NTC. We are also collecting information from the telcos because we find it alarming as personal information is involved,” The NPC stated in a statement that the scam messages appear to be targeted because they contain the recipients’ names.

Although not conclusive, the NPC stated that one of their hypotheses is that the method of operation has something to do with a popular e-wallet platform, noting that the formatting of the personal information included in the messages appeared familiar.

The NTC has directed local telcos to send out text messages to their subscribers warning them about this new type of scam, which typically offers false job opportunities to entice victims.

Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications Inc., and Dito Telecommunity Corp. were tasked with completing this task between August 31 and September 6. On September 9, the telco companies were ordered to submit a written report of compliance to the NTC.

NOW THEY KNOW YOU | A sample text message containing the name of the receiver lures the potential victim into playing a game using “free slots.”

MANILA, Philippines — Supreme Court Justice Marvic Leonen on Wednesday posted on social media site Twitter: “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.”

Leonen is referring to the latest form of text scam that has made its way into the Filipinos’ inbox, mentioning specifically the name of the mobile number user and thus posing a cybersecurity threat to the public.

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The National Privacy Commission (NPC) said on Wednesday it has started investigating the text scam reports.

In a message sent to the Inquirer, the NPC said it was working with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the anticybercrime group of the Philippine National Police, as well as the major telecommunications companies to get to the bottom of the issue.

“We’ve started gathering information and discussing it with the NTC. We are also collecting information from the telcos because we find it alarming as personal information is involved,” the NPC said in a statement, noting that the scam messages seem to be targeted as these contained the names of the recipients.

Although not yet conclusive, the NPC said that one of their hypotheses was that the modus operandi has something to do with a popular e-wallet platform, noting that the formatting of the personal information included in the messages seemed familiar.

“We see this format from this platform. That’s one. Another, we also see this (format) in Viber and Telegram,” the NPC said, explaining that bots (automated software programmed to do specific tasks) were being used by unscrupulous groups or individuals.

The NTC has instructed local telco players to text blast their subscribers warning them against this new form of scam, which usually offers fake job opportunities to entice victims.

Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications Inc., and Dito Telecommunity Corp. were tasked to do this from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6. The telco firms were ordered to submit a written report of compliance with the NTC on Sept. 9.

“The proliferation of fake job text, lucky winner and similar money scams targeting the general public has persisted over the month of August across telecommunications networks in the country, with the latest variant including the name of its recipient,” In a memorandum, the NTC stated

Text scams are a type of phishing attack, which is a fraudulent activity in which scammers trick users into disclosing personal or sensitive information. With such information, the scammers will be able to take over or use the victims’ bank and other financial accounts without their knowledge.

The NTC also ordered telecommunications companies to “accelerate the process of blocking SIM (subscriber identity module) cards that are being used to perpetrate these fraudulent activities.”

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