SCAM CALLS in the Philippines rose 78.44% quarter on quarter to 62,390 in the three months to September, anti-scam application Whoscall reported.
According to the Whoscall Scam Report, the scam callers “are taking advantage of legitimate promotional calls like credit card limit upgrades, making their scams sound more believable to unsuspecting consumers,” according to Mel Migriño, the Gogolook Philippines country head and general manager, at a briefing on Tuesday. Gogolook developed the Whoscall app.
She noted that scam callers typically impersonate banks or businesses offering fake rewards or loans to mobile users. These scams are expected to surge until the end of the year in the runup to the holidays.
On a year-on-year basis, scam calls fell 62.24% during the third quarter.
Scam texts declined 42.17% from a quarter earlier to 37,609 in the three months to September, it said. They were down 97.71% year on year.
Ms. Migriño said there was now a greater wariness of scams by text recipients.
“In our assessment, the public now has a significant level of awareness that if they receive a message that has link in it; in most cases, that message is malicious,” she added.
Malicious links, or hyperlinks aimed at directing users to fraudulent websites, jumped 31.65% quarter on quarter to 27,510 in the three months to September, Whoscall said.
“We continue to urge the public to report scam incidents, as these serve as leads for further investigation and as the foundation for various initiatives that raise public awareness against online scams,” Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center Acting Executive Director Renato A. Paraiso said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
