LandBank disowns emails, text messages with clickable links

The Land Bank of the Philippines over the weekend warned the public against fraudulent emails and text messages which contain clickable links, as it disowned any of these.

In an advisory, LandBank said it does not send official emails and text messages with clickable hyperlinks, in line with its efforts to boost security and improve customer protection.

“All emails and text messages allegedly from LandBank or a representative of the bank that has a clickable link is definitely fake and part of a scam,” the advisory read.

LandBank is mandated to promote countryside development while remaining financially viable. It implements the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), provides assistance to small farmers and fisherfolk, and serves as an official depository of government funds.

The bank ended the first half of the year with a P20.3-billion net income, reflecting a 94% growth from the P10.3 billion it recorded in the same period last year.

The advisory comes as personalized scam text messages have been prevalent in the country, with the National Privacy Commission (NPC) finding difficulty in determining the source of information.

Telco firms in June said they already blocked millions of “smishing” messages, referring to the practice of sending text messages purporting to be from legitimate organizations with the aim of obtaining users’ personal information.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it  is now coordinating with other countries to issue warrants against those involved in smishing schemes. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/KG, GMA News