Reply to Cito Beltran

As mentioned to you, I will provide more information about this case (“Identity theft,” Oct. 29, 2021) as soon as possible. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to inform your readers on the results of our preliminary investigation.

Ms. Neneronda Tan is a postpaid customer of Globe and as such we take into account her store visit experience and what happened to her Globe account after it was compromised.

Our initial findings showed that on Oct. 22, 2021 a person posing as “Ms. Neneronda Tan” went to our Globe Store at Robinsons Galleria requesting for a SIM card replacement due to the loss of her mobile phone. “Ms. Tan” presented two government IDs and a notarized affidavit of loss. Given the documents submitted, our Globe Store representative processed the SIM card replacement.

Prior to the personal appearance of “Ms. Tan” at our Store, on the same day, Globe received a call from a person who identified herself as “Ms. Neneronda Tan.” This person requested for a temporary disconnection of her mobile line, citing the loss of her mobile phone as her reason.

On the next day, Oct. 23, 2021 the real Ms. Neneronda Tan visited the Globe Store at SM Southmall to complain about the loss of her mobile phone signal the day before. Our Globe customer representative immediately verified and assisted Ms. Tan for the reactivation of her mobile phone signal.

Upon the reactivation of Ms. Tan’s mobile phone signal, she discovered unauthorized online transactions using her Metrobank credit card.

This modus is called “SIM swap scam.” In this type of fraud activity, a SIM change is the last step carried out by scammers so they can take over an individual’s financial account which includes bank account details, trading information, e-wallet and/or credit card.

In order to do this, a fraudster would identify a target victim, investing time and resources to come up with fake identification, gather bank account details, email addresses, online credentials and personal facts together with the mobile number that is registered to a bank account for sending a one-time password (OTP). To fulfil the process, the final activity is to take over the SIM of the mobile number registered for the OTP sending.

This lengthy explanation provides the context of my response to you over the phone when you emailed me the letter of Ms. Tan addressed to the CyberCrime Division of the National Bureau of Investigation. Likewise as mentioned to you, our fraud team has been alerted of the case. Globe is ready and willing to work with the NBI so that these perpetrators may be brought to justice before they can victimize other people.

Globe will not point to a person or an institution to blame. The fact remains that online fraud is happening and victimizing people. We affirm the principle of shared responsibility in protecting one’s personal details, online accounts and online transactions.

Having said this, we continue to educate our customers on data privacy and data security. Once again, we remind our customers not to share personal information such as birth dates, anniversary dates, school or company ID, TIN, passport details and other information on social media, as these may compromise a customer’s data security.

In some instances, scammers may also call pretending to be telco or bank representatives requiring personal information and bank details, in exchange for some offers or perks. Bank statements, utility bills, delivery packages and other documents that contain one’s personal information disposed of in an unsecured manner can also be a source of identity theft.

We deeply regret that this incident happened and we apologize to Ms. Tan for the trouble she went through as a result of this fraud activity. As we are serious in our commitment to strengthen security protocols, I reiterate that this is in no way a security breach of the Globe network.

We assure you that we are committed to improve and get better everyday so we can earn our customer’s trust and enduring relationship. As a mobile service provider, it is our responsibility to keep our customers connected and give them peace of mind during these trying times. – Yoly Crisanto, SVP for Group Corporate Communications, Globe Telecom, Inc.