PLDT, Smart Provide Laguna Businesses the Ability to Thwart Frauds

By shielding them from financial crimes, PLDT and its wireless division Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) assist business owners in the city of Biñan, Laguna, in being cyber smart. The recent Biñan City Sari-Sari Store Congress featured a #BeCyberSmart pocket session that provided insightful advice on spotting fraud and scams. The module is a part of the eBizNovation initiative from PLDT and Smart, which aims to give cooperatives and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) digital tools and skills so they may grow their operations or take advantage of new livelihood prospects.

“PLDT and Smart take on a whole-of-nation approach to fighting scams and fraud. Aside from our robust cybersecurity infrastructure, we also prioritize educating our customers, particularly MSMEs who are increasingly adopting digital tools, to be proactive in protecting themselves through our #BeCyberSmart awareness campaign,” said Stephanie V. Orlino, AVP and Head of Stakeholder Management at PLDT and Smart. “Equipping them with the knowledge to identify and avoid scams is crucial as they navigate the digital livelihood opportunities being introduced to them.”

MSMEs are subject to a variety of online risks when they adopt digital advances. Phishing is still the most popular method scammers employ to trick their victims into disclosing personal information. Potential victims are frequently sent clickbait messages via SMS by criminals. Links in these unwanted SMShing messages frequently take users to hacked websites.

Fraudsters may also use "vishing" or "phishing" through voice calls, in which they call potential victims and pose as bank representatives in an attempt to coerce them into divulging personal information such as account numbers, credit card CVVs, and login credentials.

Smart just turned on its new, more sophisticated network firewall to further stifle spam and text frauds and keep consumers safe. Smart had already announced a notable decrease in the quantity of SMShing messages sent following the transfer of the majority of its SMS handling capabilities to the new