GLOBE Telecom, Inc. and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) signed a memorandum of agreement in investigating incidents related to financial scams and fraud.
“Our collaboration with RCBC will enable us to take proactive measures to prevent spam and scams from occurring and strengthen our capabilities to investigate and respond to such incidents,” Globe Chief Privacy Officer Irish Salandanan-Almeida said in a press release.
The partnership will provide a direct and round-the-clock communication channel to report any fraudulent activities for immediate investigation and blocking for both parties.
“Having direct coordination will boost our efforts against fraud. We look forward to working together to keep accounts safe and mitigate other cybersecurity threats,” said RCBC Chief Information Security Officer Carlos Tengkiat said.
Globe said that the channel will help in addressing the increasing number and complexity of financial crimes, identity theft, phishing, SMS spams and other similar scams or frauds.
“These malicious activities severely impact consumers and major stakeholders in telecommunications, e-commerce, finance, and other industries,” the telco company said.
The partnership with RCBC is part of Globe’s effort in working with major commercial banks and online retailers in the country against fraud, particularly scam, and spam SMS.
It is also aligned with Globe’s memorandum of understanding with the Bankers Association of the Philippines which aims to enhance the joint capability of Globe and RCBC in investigating and responding to fraud incidents.
From January 2022 to January 2023, the telco company blocked 85 million bank-related spam and scam messages, part of the record-high 3 billion scam and spam messages filtered out within the same period.
The company has also invested $20 million in tools and in launching channels to streamline spam and scam reporting.
One of these is its Security Operations Center which filters out unwanted messages, including app-to-person and person-to-person SMS from international and domestic sources.
“Our commitment to fighting fraud remains strong, and we will continue to work with other institutions and stakeholders to protect our customers from fraudulent activities,” Ms. Salandanan-Almeida said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
