Mar2	Text Spam and Text Scams 6:15 am (UTC-7)   |    by Florabel Baetiong (Anti-spam Research Engineer)

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Text scams are increasingly becoming common again due to the forthcoming Philippine national and local elections, as political campaigns take to rampant text messaging for faster political mobilization. Earlier, I received a text message with the following content:

May GOD bountifuly bles u & ur family. Have a blissful day Fr Frends of UNI-MAD Party List, United Movement Against Drugs no.181′Luv ur famly, say NO 2 drugs.

According to the Philippine National Statistical Coordination Board, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) reported an average of 250 million text messages sent daily in 2005. A more updated study reported an upsurge, which more than doubled the said figure in 2009, along with a growth in the number of mobile phone users (i.e., over 63 million).

Numbers such as these in a country known as the “text capital of the world” set the stage for the proliferation of texts scams such as one that features the following message:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!Your # WON TOYOTA AVANZA car w/ 300thou via electronic last Dec.21,2009. For details,please call now Rene Samonte. of Phil. Info. Center on this #.

As similar instances of text scams have already occurred in the past, it is best to take heed and be wary of your mobile phone activities before you fall prey to potential text scams.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 6:15 am and is filed under Spam . Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “Text Spam and Text Scams”

1. Sniper Says:
   March 2nd, 2010 at 8:33 am

   scams via email and sms are nothing new in the philippines as these techniques are the easiest for low-life scammers to prey on susceptible users.

   btw, if you're into learning real-world security threats such as unfixed NASA.gov web exploits, check out the latest post at pinoysecurity and see the actual exploit codes before the post is removed or the "holes" can be fixed.

2. Sniper Says:
   March 2nd, 2010 at 8:45 am

   email and text scams are the low-life scammer's favorite since it is so easy to execute on ignorant unsuspecting users.

   btw, if you're into learning real-world security threats such as unfixed NASA.gov web exploits, check out the latest post at pinoysecurity and see the actual exploit codes before the post is removed or the "holes" be fixed.

3. sioms Says:
   March 25th, 2010 at 10:01 pm

   Igot the same text… only it was Mike Cabral who I was supposed to get in touch with at the Phil Info Center. I reported the number to Globe and they told me they would make a report and send a Warning Text. They also gave me the number of the NTC hotline.. after trying several times to call the number… It was a fax….

4. Rose Marie Says:
   April 12th, 2010 at 4:14 pm

   Hi, today April 13, 2010 at about 7:54 AM I received this SMS containing this message: CONGRATULATIONS!! You Have WOn 300th/toyota Vios Last Feb. 10, 2010 ur cel # as Home partner Winner call ds # 4 details ds is PHILIP ANGELES of Phil.Info.Center…..

   Well, its surprising coz I just bought this sim card last April 8, 2010..

   SCAM….. Please beware. the cp# of this guy who send me the message is +639055822613.

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