Frustrated consumers have been venting to friends and posting screenshots on Facebook about the unusually high number of spam text messages that can get annoying.
The unsolicited old school SMS offers vouchers, discounts and side hustles, often with links to supposed voucher downloads and WhatsApp chat groups. We referred the matter to Globe and Smart.
Globe "takes spam seriously" and has a dedicated cybersecurity and data privacy group that takes care of spam complaints, Anton Bonifacio, Globe Chief Information Security Officer told reportr.
Proven spammer numbers are blocked and deactivated, including 5,670 numbers and 71 million messages this year alone, Bonifacio said. Globe subscribers can report spammers via www.globe.com.ph/stopspam.
Android users can use Google Messages app that makes reporting spam easy with one tap, he said.
PLDT First Vice President and head of communications Cathy Yang also responded to reportr's query and suggested four ways for subscribers to deal with spam.
- Do not entertain questions/surveys from unknown senders
- Never provide personal information to strangers
- Use your text messaging app's built-in blocking feature
- Report incidents to the NTC via https://ntc.gov.ph/complaint
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Globe's Bonifacio said it partnered with banks, Lazada and Shopee to help gather reports on numbers used for spamming.
"Given the pandemic, a lot of businesses are trying to get their products across to consumers, that’s why there’s a lot of unsolicited marketing campaigns," he said.
"Unfortunately, digital marketers or unsolicited spammers have either built databases of numbers from public information, or data that can be freely accessed on the internet from social media, and sign-ups," he said.
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