Globe Telecoms and Smart Communications have issued a warning to the public about a new scam that involves receiving SMS and voice calls from an anonymous person asking for ransom and claiming that one of the subscriber’s loved ones were kidnapped.
According to reports, the modus operandi includes a person guised as a customer service rep from one of the telcos asking a user (the one who is alleged to be abducted) to turn off their handset for 2 hours for a “network-related upgrade” either through phone call or SMS.
After that, the fake rep or an accomplice will contact the subscriber’s family and/or relative claiming that their love one was kidnapped and is asking for a ransom for his/her release. It’s also been said that the group will even ask somebody to cry for help on the background to make their ploy even more believable.
“We reiterate and warn the public of these criminal elements capitalizing on our network modernization initiatives. Customers who receive suspicious calls from persons claiming to be Globe agents should clarify with our customer service personnel,”
– Vicente Froilan M. Castelo, General Counsel of Globe Telecoms
In a statement, Mr. Castelo states that Globe Telecoms “will never ask its customers to turn off their cell phones for any network-related purpose and those who receive such calls should immediately report the numbers used for the call.”
Both Smart Communications and Globe Telecoms have already put up their respective initiatives to lessen, if not totally eliminate any kind of scams involving SMS and voice calls. Subscribers can report any suspicious numbers by following the procedures listed on our previous post.
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