Happy New Year, everyone! We hope that you enjoyed a well-deserved break from your responsibilities this holiday season and that you will enjoy a successful 2022.

However, did you know that there were people who did not take a vacation during the holidays? Cybercriminals were one of them by continuing to trick people and steal their hard-earned savings.

Have you ever received a barrage of text messages from people you do not know recently? If yes, then you would be very familiar with these messages:

Exhibit A

(Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Exhibit B

(Source: BusinessWorld)

There are more examples of these messages, such as those that tell you have won a big amount of money (such as Php 1 million) or that you can easily get a loan as large as Php 2 million from the person who texted you.

These text messages are dangerous because they exploit our emotions. Come to think of it, where else can you get a big amount of money instantly? With more Filipinos struggling to meet ends today, these text messages can make others feel as if they have won the lottery.

But this is why we should be careful. A good tip that everyone should follow: If it is too good to be true, then it’s most likely a scam.

Manila Bulletin technology editor Art Samaniego recently wrote how text scams promising high-paying jobs work. At one point, everyone or most of us has received this kind of message:

Exhibit C

(Source: Manila Bulletin)

Samaniego even went as far as to try out the job itself to see how the scam works! In a nutshell, he found out that if victims want to earn money, they would have to deposit money to the cybercriminals’ bank accounts. The bigger the deposit is, the bigger the money that you would earn.

Of course, with scams like this, you would only receive the money in the beginning stages so that cybercriminals will earn your trust. As victims eventually begin to trust them, they would be enticed to deposit more money to achieve bigger returns. But since this is a scam, the criminals will eventually disappear and steal their money.

There are other text scams that would instruct you to give your link, which would then ask for your personal information. It is risky to give them to those who you do not know, because there are cybercriminals that can use it to hack your account or even create fake identities in which crimes are carried out.

An example where fake identities can be used is a mule account. Mule accounts are used to transfer money obtained from crime, such as those stolen from victims, to the accounts of criminals. Money mules, or those who are seen as transferring money outside of a mule account to other accounts, can face criminal investigations.

Text scams are on the rise especially in recent weeks. They are dangerous, but they are easy to avoid. The best way to deal with them is that if you receive a text from someone you do not know, immediately delete the number and block him/her. 

If you ignore the scammer’s message, then you would not have your money stolen. That’s because you will not participate in the scam and be tricked by the scammer.