BSP warns public anew against text hijacking

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Friday reminded the public not to click on links sent via text messages claiming to be from banks, as it continues to receive reports of text hijacking ahead of the holiday season.

In an advisory, the BSP said banks do not send text messages and emails with clickable links to their customers, in line with a memorandum released in March 2022.

“The BSP continues to receive reports of fraudulent text messages that appear to come from legitimate financial institutions,” the advisory read.

“These messages often contain malicious links designed to steal access to victims’ financial accounts and are usually accompanied by urgent prompts such as notifications of expiring rewards, unauthorized transactions, or account verification requests to pressure recipients into clicking the link,” it added.

Moving forward, the central bank called on the public to enable multi-factor authentication to secure accounts, to refrain from sharing personal or financial details with anyone, and to contact their banks or e-money issuers should their accounts be compromised. — BAP, GMA Integrated News