Text scam continuing? NTC, Meta and viber seeking solutions

AS lawmakers continue to knock at the doors of the government against the continued proliferation of text scams despite the sim card registration, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said that they had met with representatives of Meta and Viber to come up with measures against this.

According to NTC Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan, they met with officials from the said platforms prior to the raid of a POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga.

The said raid yielded SIM cards allegedly used for online fraud and scams.

“Naka-meeting na po namin ang mga representatives from META na hawak po ‘yung Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. Pati po ng Viber, nakipag-meeting na rin po sa amin ‘yan sila mga about a month or two months ago,” Salvahan said.

Salvahan explained that scammers are looking for ways to register or submit fake or fictitious registration documents.

They also try to transfer their activities to over-the-top platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Viber, which are currently not covered by the SIM Registration Act.

Likewise, scammers are said to be obtaining personal information from users who have registered their names and phone numbers in some stores or establishments.

Among the things considered during the meeting was the sharing of deactivated SIM numbers by telecommunications companies to the over-the-top platforms, for the respective deactivation in their applications.

“Dini-discuss na po namin ano ‘yung mga possible measures para ma-address po ‘yung mga scamming and spamming po na ginagamit sa kanilang platforms including ‘yung possible data sharing po, ise-share ‘yung data ng telcos ng mga na-deactivate nilang SIM numbers para ma-deactivate din sa mga platforms nitong mga over-the-top operators po natin.”