Smart blocks 13 M smishing messages

Wireless leader Smart Communications Inc. prevented more than 13 million attempts to dupe its subscribers in the first quarter of the year, warning against the rising number of hijack profiles.

- ELIJAH FELICE ROSALES

Apart from this, Smart also blacklisted nearly 200,000 SIMS involved in malicious activities, as the telco improved its coordination with authorities in preventing digital fraud.

Smart senior vice president and chief information security officer Joseph Ian Gendrano said the company is stepping up its fraud detection as cases of hijack profiles are on the rise.

A hijack profile happens when a hacker gains access to a victim's social media account.

Typically, the victim is locked out of his own account, and the hacker then reaches out to social media contacts to ask for money, usually under the guise of sickness.

Gendrano said hackers gain access to social media accounts through phishing. As such, he asked customers to be cautious in clicking on e-mails,links and texts from unknown persons.

Further, Gendrano reminded subscribers that phishing messages employ low-quality photos and wrong grammar in their attempt to emulate legitimate institutions like banks and the government.