A HOUSE leader has welcomed the National Telecommunications Commission’s support for efforts at the House of Representatives to address text scams.
Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo was referring to NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba’s hard stance against fraudulent text messages which threaten the security and safety of the public.
Quimbo earlier requested the NTC to help him stop the dissemination of a text message fraudulently using his name and Tzu Chi Foundation.
The text scam advises the recipient that he allegedly won a cash prize in a raffle.
Quimbo also urged the NTC to come up with tougher policies, stronger regulatory environment, and wider information campaign on text scams.
“We looked into the request of the Honorable Deputy Speaker, and we agree that these scams potentially harm the receiver,” Cordoba said.
“These text scams do not only deceive the public, they also damage the name of publicly-known figures and organizations when the message particularly indicates a personality to lend credibility to its claim,” Cordoba added.
Quimbo said in 2016 alone, the NTC received 433 complaints on text scams.
The figure, he said, does not include the unreported cases of text scams since the victims are often unaware of the recourse available to them.
“We have around 110 million prepaid subscribers alone. As this fraudulent acts persist, more people will possibly be victimized, hence we need to identify the perpetrators of these scams. We encourage the public to be vigilant and to report the text scams to the NTC so we can take proper action,” Cordoba said.
Quimbo said Congress must be able to enact a law providing stiffer penalties against perpetrators of text scams.