In 2024, the Philippines saw a staggering increase in scam communications, with over 6 million fraudulent text messages and more than 600,000 scam calls reported throughout the year. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and the trust-tech company Gogolook revealed these alarming figures during a media briefing in Manila. The data was gathered using Gogolook’s Whoscall mobile application, which tracked a total of 6,157,517 scam SMS and 610,688 scam calls across the country.
The frequency of these scam calls escalated over the year, starting with 108,157 in the first quarter and rising to 201,760 by the fourth quarter. Similarly, scam texts surged from 1,143,268 in the first quarter to 2,079,968 by the end of the year. Among the scam texts, Whoscall identified 16,553 risky internet links, primarily related to online service registrations, promotions, insurance, gaming, financial services, loans, and rewards. Other prevalent dangerous links included online shopping scams, dubious payment requests, and job-related frauds.
CICC Executive Director, Undersecretary Alexander Ramos, highlighted that these fraudulent texts and calls are often the initial stages of broader scam operations. In response, financial technology companies (fintech), telecommunications companies (telcos), and other relevant entities have been prohibited from sending messages with links or attachments. Ramos emphasized that these organizations are now only allowed to send instructional messages without clickable links.
Ramos also pointed out that fake cell towers and social media platforms are significant sources of these scams. He urged the government to enact legislation or amend existing laws to tackle scams originating from social media, similar to the SIM Registration Act, which has helped the CICC and other law enforcement agencies trace scams linked to SIM cards. Ramos noted that the SIM card registration has significantly reduced vulnerabilities in the scamming process.