Scammers of another level?
A talk show host claimed of receiving a spam text message that included not just his name, but also the mention of preferred gender pronouns.
M.A. Buendía, host of GNN’s “Millenial TV” show, shared a screengrab of the supposed text on Wednesday, which reads:
“M.A. (he/his), bilisan sumali bilang bagong customer, pindutin at gumawa ng account at may 600p.”
The text was accompanied by a shortened website link.
“Shuta ng mga scam texts. May pangalan na, may pronouns pa!” Buendia said on Twitter.
Shuta ng mga scam texts. May pangalan na, may pronouns pa! pic.twitter.com/sesWOkZih0
— M.A. Buendía ☻ (@MABuendiaHD) September 7, 2022
The text scam earned several reactions, with some jesting that the spammer is “inclusive” or gender sensitive.
“KA INCLUSIVE BA HAHAHAHAHA imagine giving a SOGIE talk to a scammer group HAHSHSHA make sure to be sensitive of their gender expression when you’re stealing all their data!” a Twitter user quipped.
SOGIE is short for sexual orientation and gender identity expression.
“Progressive scam texters!” another Pinoy commented.
Others expressed alarm over how the spammers were able to know such data.
“How do they even get it? T^T,” an online user tweeted.
“Baka kinuha ‘yan from one of your socials? Sample… LinkedIn? Pwede maglagay ng pronouns. Scary na nila! Dapat ‘di natin i-ignore ‘to,” another Filipino said.
There has been a recent rise in scam texts, with the latest bearing names of recipients.
READ: NPC probes unsolicited SMS texts with full names of receivers
The issue separately prompted an e-wallet service to start hiding some letters of a cash recipient’s name.
According to the National Privacy Commission, initial investigations revealed that recent smishing messages were sent via phone-to-phone transmissions and not through data aggregators.
Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, called for tighter measures against cybercriminals and said it is time to revive a bill requiring SIM card buyers to register with network providers.
