NTC warns of text scam messages

The mobile phone is a favorite among the Filipinos. With communication at the touch of our fingers, we easily reach friends, loved ones and business partners. Such an easy form of communication can be a power and an opportunity for abuse at the same time.

Since Filipinos are also gaming and lotto enthusiasts, this also makes the public more vulnerable to con artists who try to manipulate and mislead their fellowmen by sending them messages that they have won a certain amount of money from a game or lottery that they didn’t even join.

Thus, the National Telecom-munications Commission (NTC) strongly advises the public to be vigilant and not to fall prey to text scam messages informing innocent subscribers that they have won a special prize sponsored by telecom-munications companies such as Globe Telecom, Smart and Sun, government agencies like PAGCOR, PCSO and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and foundations like the ABS-CBN Foundation, GMA 7 Foun-dation, and many others.

The following are indicators of a text scam:

• The messages come from ordinary 11-digit cellphone numbers (e.g. 0917xxx-xxxx, 0919xxx-xxxx, 0922xxx-xxxx, etc).

• Winners are being asked to pay cash, deposit money in the bank allegedly to pay for VAT, taxes, etc., transfer any amount of money through whatever means to any person, or send prepaid load (or credits) as a condition for claiming their supposed prize.

• The subscriber is declared a "winner" without joining any promotion.

• A fraudulent call is made or an SMS is sent for the primary purpose of soliciting money for reasons that usually involve a situation of dire need (an emergency such as a loved one is in hospital or has met an accident).

As the government agency mandated to regulate the telecommunications industry, the NTC is extra vigilant in its campaign against text scams.