PLDT Group warns against fake advisories

PLDT Group on Friday warned the public against fake advisories supposedly released by banks and digital wallets, as cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated in imitating official communication materials of financial institutions.

«Without scrutinizing these fake advisories, one can easily be fooled into thinking they were officially released by the bank. We need to take the time in going over these messages,» said Angel Redoble, FVP and chief information security officer at PLDT and Smart.

«Also, beware of calls supposedly coming from bank representatives. Cyber threat actors have become familiar with the dialogues used by official bank agents that they can sound very convincing,» Redoble added.

PLDT also urged the public to be vigilant about unsolicited communication to avoid falling prey to scams.

«Do not trust unexpected emails, SMS, or calls requesting for personal information or login details like OTPs (one-time passwords). Banks or legitimate organizations never ask for these details over these channels,» it added.

PLDT added that the public should double-check the source because scammers often use email addresses or URLs similar to the bank's official communication channels.

«Never share personal information. When in doubt, do not reveal personal information or other financial details,» PLDT said.

«Use strong, unique passwords for each account. Make sure that passwords are at least 14 characters long and combinations of small and capital letters, numbers, and special characters,» it added. Moreover, PLDT and Smart have been proactively preventing malicious messages from reaching their customers. In September alone, the group said they have blocked more than 5.5 million fraudulent messages.

In the same month, Smart, likewise, blacklisted more than 21,000 mobile numbers involved in scams and fraudulent activities. The PLDT Group has also prevented more than 1.6 billion attempts to open malicious domains in the same period.