NTC advice on text scams: Just ignore them

MANILA, Philippines - The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has advised the public to ignore spam and scam text messages on their mobile devices so as not to fall prey to fraudulent schemes.

Ric de la Cruz of NTC Pangasinan field office told reporters that the agency has intensified the campaign against text scams.

He said the NTC office in Dagupan alone receives an average of three to five complaints on text scams daily.

De la Cruz said mobile numbers sending text messages informing the recipient of winning in a raffle or an accident involving a relative abroad could be reported to the NTC for disconnection.

He said complaints on text scams may be reported to Globe Telecom 730100; Smart – 8881111, and Sun -6398000.

Meanwhile, Dagupan police chief Superintendent Christopher Abrahano warned the public to be aware of text scams after three persons were duped by sending as much as P300,000 after receiving calls from callers posing as ambassadors or lawyers.

The victims, whose names were withheld, sent the money through banks or money remittance, Abrahano said.

“The victims were professionals and raised the amount asked from them in just a few hours,” he said.

Abrahano said the callers introduced themselves as lawyer or ambassador of a certain country where the victims’ relatives were working.

He said the callers told the victims that their relatives were involved in a murder case or figured in a road accident and needed huge amount of money for hospital expenses or non-filing of charges.