PLDT Group asked the public to remain vigilant against online fraud amid rising cases of scams in the country.
“Social engineering remains the most common tactic used by criminals to lure customers into giving up vital information. There is no silver bullet to fighting cybercrime,” said Angel Redoble, first vice president and chief information security officer of PLDT and Smart.
“We strongly urge our customers to adopt a cybersecurity mindset to avoid falling prey to scams and fraud,” Redoble said.
Phishing attacks, considered the most popular form of social engineering, target vulnerable mobile users. Often posing as legitimate companies or organizations, criminals send out click-bait messages or place calls that tempt customers into revealing their personal data. Phishing can be done over text messages or SMShing and voice calls or vishing.
Smart intensified efforts against criminal activities facilitated over wireless services, and saw a seven-fold jump in monthly blocked SIMs to more than 35,000 as of July 2023 from less than 5,000 in 2020.
It blocked more than seven million phishing messages in July.
The efforts of PLDT and Smart to drive relevant cybersecurity information on scams and fraud are fundamental to the PLDT Group’s much broader program to elevate the quality of customer experience by protecting them from threats and attacks, the group said.