Whoscall records 6.1M scam texts in PH in 2024

The anti-scam app Whoscall recorded over 6.1 million scam text messages in the Philippines in 2024, with the fourth quarter having the highest volume.

The fourth quarter accounted for 33.8 percent of the total SMS scams, and December, including the holiday season, had the highest number of reported text scams.

Loan-related scams were the most prevalent type of text scam.

A significant portion of suspicious URLs in texts were invitations to register for financial schemes or online services.

Spoofing scams, where scammers impersonate official SMS channels of telcos, e-wallets, and digital banks, have become more prevalent.

These scam messages often create a sense of urgency, claiming rewards will expire or passwords are about to become invalid, instructing recipients to click on a link to update their information.

Despite confidence in identifying scams, a majority of Filipinos encounter them monthly and reported an increase in scam encounters over the past year.

Digital wallets are the preferred payment method for fraudulent transactions, and most victims do not recover lost funds.