Filipinos were warned about scam texts containing suspicious links that use the names of legitimate entities such as banks.
Lawyer Emil Marañon III on Wednesday, July 8, raised awareness about receiving a spam text message that appeared to come from BPI.
The message claims that he had an “unusual transaction” on his account and instructed him to visit a website if he wanted to “cancel” it.
BPI’s legitimate website is bpi.com.ph.
“Quite tricky and scary, actually, that phishing texts can actually insert itself within the text inbox of legit apps like BPI,” Marañon wrote on social media.
“Hope @enjoyGLOBE and @TalktoBPI can do something about this,” he added, tagging the telecommunications company and the commercial bank.
Quite tricky and scary actually that phishing texts can actually insert itself within the text inbox of legit apps like BPI. Hope @enjoyGLOBE and @TalktoBPI can do something about this. pic.twitter.com/wCXrCR5WZz
— Emil (@13thFool) July 8, 2026
Another message below it was a legitimate text from the bank.
A different social media user also reported receiving a scam text that appeared to come from another bank.
“Also got one of those inserting thru my normal BDO SMS alerts when I was in Baguio last week,” the user wrote, sharing a screengrab of the message.
Also got one of those inserting thru my normal BDO SMS alerts when I was in Baguio last week: https://t.co/86HbcagdO1 pic.twitter.com/VkAaDgWd68
— Myke H ❤💚💙🟣 (@ruromyke) July 8, 2026
Text hijacking is a tactic used by scammers to make recipients believe they are receiving legitimate messages from official numbers or entities, even when the texts messages contain red flags such as poor grammar or an overly informal tone.
The government said scammers deceive the recipient by sending messages containing malicious links designed to gain unauthorized access to their accounts or credit cards.
According to a telecommunications firm, fraudsters can use fake cell towers to send text scams and spoof the names of legitimate entities as the sender.
Authorities have advised the public not to click on links in unsolicited messages and to scrutinize the texts they receive carefully.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also said banks will “never” ask their customers to click a link sent through email or SMS to carry out transactions they did not initiate.
“You may go directly to mobile or internet banking facilities for any transactions with your bank [or] e-money issuer,” the BSP said before.
