Globe Telecom Inc. said over the weekend it posted a 79-percent drop in blocked spam messages in the second quarter of 2024 from the same period last year.
Globe said it intercepted 235,998,731 spam SMS messages from April to June, a substantial drop from the 1,104,502,921 messages blocked in the same quarter of 2023.
Blocked spam SMS messages also declined 35 percent from 362,773,894 messages seen in the first quarter of 2024.
Globe said that further supporting this trend is the number of deactivated SIMs reported via its StopScam portal from April to June, which fell to 504 from 4,054 in the same period the previous year, marking an 88-percent decrease year-on-year.
It said that between the first and second quarters of 2024, the drop was 40 percent, with the first three months of 2024 recording 841 deactivated numbers. Deactivated numbers included SIMs within the Globe network.
“We have observed a consistent decline in spam SMS– those that pass through the cellular network– as we continue to implement stringent filtering systems, including blocking person-to-person SMS with links,” Globe’s chief information security officer and chief AI officer Anton Bonifacio said.
“We reiterate our advice to our customers to remain vigilant and never engage with any unsolicited message they receive, whether via SMS or chat apps, particularly those with dubious offers,” he said.
Globe said that while these figures demonstrate the effectiveness of its spam filtering systems, they also highlight a change in scam tactics that evade cellular networks.
It noted an increasing threat posed by spoofed SMS, a method that bypasses telecom networks’ spam filters, making detection and prevention particularly challenging.
Spoofing is a technique in which unscrupulous persons or groups impersonate SMS channels to lure unsuspecting victims into sharing personal information or clicking on malicious links, potentially leading to financial losses or compromised data security.
Spoofed SMS uses International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers or fake cell towers.
These devices simulate cell towers to intercept mobile communications within a certain radius, compelling phones to connect and receive spoofed SMS messages directly. These messages do not pass through the cellular network, hence evading telco filters.
Fraudsters are also shifting to over-the-top media services or chatapps, Rich Communication Services (RCS) chats for Android users and other Internet-based messaging platforms to send messages to target users even while using foreign numbers or email addresses.
These messages also do not pass through the cellular network.
“As we tighten our defenses against spam SMS, we are also aware that scammers are continuously evolving their methods. Globe is committed to staying ahead of these threats by enhancing our security protocols across all channels. Our goal is to protect our customers from fraud, ensuring their trust in our services remains unshaken,” said Bonifacio.
