Globe Telecom (Globe) continues its efforts to eradicate SMS spam through its anti-spam and anti-scam campaigns. This is all thanks to their dedicated cybersecurity team that detects, investigates, and takes proper action to these types of reports.
To date, Globe’s cybersecurity team has already deactivated 5,670 confirmed spam numbers and successfully blocked close to 71 million spam messages in this year alone, including those reported through www.globe.com.ph/stopspam. Their specialized teams are part of a larger internal Cybersecurity and Data Privacy group that responds and deals with spam complaints, spammers, and scams.
“We take unsolicited and fraudulent messages seriously, and protecting Globe customers from these scams remains a top business priority,” said Anton Bonifacio, Globe Chief Information Security Officer. He added that since the pandemic started, the company has invested an additional $7.25 million in CAPEX solely to continue enhancing anti-spam capabilities in its network.
In order to minimize scams and phishing activities aside from spam, Globe has partnered with major universal and commercial banks as well as e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada to report fake numbers, spoofed sender names, and websites which then Globe blocks in its network immediately as they are reported.
Aside from the steps that Globe takes, customers can also use the tools and methods available on their devices to report and block these spam numbers. The Google Messages app for example can be set as the default SMS messenger on Android devices as it has built-in spam filters similar to what Google Mail has.
“Given the ongoing pandemic, many businesses are struggling to get their products across to consumers. This has contributed to a surge in unsolicited marketing campaigns from digital marketers or spammers, who use existing number databases culled from public information or online data,” added Bonifacio.
