Leading global TrustTech company Gogolook, developer of anti-scam app Whoscall, shared the latest global trends in cyber fraud to the participants of the Bagong Digital Bagong Pilipinas Digital Roadshow of the Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT) in Baguio City.
Mel Migrino, Country Representative for the Philippines and Regional Director for Information Security and Alliances of Gogolook, discussed in her talk entitled “Looking through the Lens of Scams and Fraud” the process on how cyber fraud is being perpetrated by scammers globally.
“The road to every scam journey is deception, with data theft as the destination. It starts with the impersonation of brands or individuals that directly target the unsuspecting victims via messages in SMS, messaging apps, and email usually with a suspicious link leading to a credential log-in of a fake site or malware attachment disguised as a regular file,” Migrino revealed.
Migrino, who is also the chairperson and president of Women in Security Alliance Philippines (WiSAP), also highlighted how scammers upgraded their fraud operations with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) that can generate fake information, evade detection, ensure anonymity, spoofing phone numbers and email addresses among others.
“AI has revolutionized various industries, but it is also sadly being used to upgrade cybercrime operations,” Migrino said.
Gogolook, a foundation member of Global Anti-Scam Alliance, is partner of the Cybercrime and Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and the technology convenor of Scam Watch Pilipinas. One of the key initiatives of the CICC is to collaborate with various sectors including private entities to reach more people in its anti-scam awareness drive.
Gogolook launched the Whoscall app in the Philippines in August 2023last year to help Filipinos detect suspicious numbers and URLs and filter unwanted spam calls. The app has a community reporting tool which empowersempower its users to report scam numbers and URLs.
Whoscall Philippines app can be downloaded in Google Play for Android users and App Store for Apple users.