Curbing online scams

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It continues to amaze me how online scammers are able to come up with several schemes that sometimes seem so authentic, particularly notifications that seemingly come from our telco carriers or our digital banks.

It is especially surprising since some of the suspicious messages are embedded in the existing message notifications. Thankfully, since I have access to the communications team of our telcos, I am able to ask directly if the notification I received is malicious or is a probable scam, sometimes prompting them to issue warnings about new scam attempts.

But more importantly, I am generally suspicious about anything digital. Thus, I still prefer to have physical documentation of my financial transactions even though it may pose some inconvenience to me as I have to physically go to the bank and, I admit, has resulted in some unpleasant encounters with some officials of financial institutions who try to argue and insist that they have shifted to digital transactions and no longer provide paper or physical documentation since I can request for a digital copy anyway.

Hmph! No way Jose! There is nothing in the law that prohibits us from demanding physical paper documents for our own security. In any legal battle, physical proof is still the best evidence, and relying on your financial institutions’ assurance that you can always get a digital copy will likely compromise your ability to get a speedy resolution of your dispute, since you will still have to wait for them to provide you with that valuable digital record.

According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), a non-profit organization that tries to protect consumers worldwide from scams, Filipinos encounter one scam on average every two days, or a total of 239 scams on average per person per year, with about 65 percent of Filipino adults claiming to have been scammed in the last year.

The amount scammed is quite substantial at P289.5 billion or $4.5 billion in just the past year, with the average amount lost by Filipino victims estimated at P11,896.3 in the last 12 months.

These findings are contained in the recently published report of GASA titled State of Scams in the Philippines 2025 Report. The report was released at the recent launch of the GASA Philippines Chapter, a multi-sector initiative chaired by Derick Ohmar Adil, head of AI and Privacy Governance at Globe.

The most common types of scams, according to the GASA study involving 1,000 Filipino adults, are investment scams (65 percent), unexpected money scams (64 percent) and shopping scams (58 percent), with some having money stolen through such channels.

Scammers in the Philippines, according to the study, most commonly steal money through digital or e-wallets, and to a smaller percentage through wire bank transfers.

Although almost three quarters report the scam to the payment service, only 11 percent say that they were able to recover a part of the money.

The survey also showed that a large number of those who have had scam encounters do not report their experience. They say that they opted not to report the encounter because they did not lose money.

The study also showed younger Filipinos, aged from 18 to 24 years old, take longer than a day to recognize the scam encounter. Thankfully, 84 percent of those surveyed said it took less than a day to realize someone was trying to scam them.

It was also interesting that because of the high number of scam attempts, 98 percent of Filipinos claim to at least check if an offer is legitimate, with the most common step taken is to search for reviews on other websites.

Likewise, Filipinos also follow the cautionary advice of “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

Scams usually reach the victims through text messages and messaging apps, social media such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, e-mails, direct phone calls, digital advertisements, gambling platforms and online marketplace, making it easy for fraudsters to blend in with regular conversations.

However, scams encountered on social media apps of TikTok and Instagram showed that it takes longer for intended victims to recognize the scam.

The findings underline the need for a stronger, coordinated response across industries and sectors. Through its role in the GASA PH Chapter, Globe hopes to help drive education efforts, strengthen threat intelligence sharing and support closer industry coordination.

The goal is to help Filipinos navigate the online space with more confidence and clearer protection.

GASA has a global footprint and has long pioneered coordinated efforts that bring sectors together to protect consumers from scams.

Globe recently accepted the chairmanship of the GASA PH Chapter, with Gogolook and Meta as vice chairs. This builds on earlier engagements with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and other agencies that support a multi-sector approach to protecting Filipinos online.

“The goal is to level the playing field for Filipinos,” Adil said. “Scams today move fast across different channels. No single organization can fix this alone. Collaboration is the only way forward. We want Filipinos to feel safe online and that Globe is their trusted partner to address these threats.”

The GASA-Globe partnership reflects a shared commitment across sectors to help Filipinos feel safer online. Work among partners and key stakeholders across sectors has already begun.

In the months ahead, GASA PH and its members will refine the recommendations and focus areas, align stakeholders and develop new ways of working, community education and awareness programs that address the realities Filipino users face today.

Globe will take part in moving this effort forward through its role in the GASA PH Chapter, with the goal of helping build a digital environment where trust feels more certain and every Filipino feels supported.