Get Rid of Rampant Text Message Scams

When was the last time you received a text message scam? It was seven days ago when I last received a text message from a number I don’t recognize. The message was asking me to register in the so called larobinggo app, and that the Jackpot is 5.5M with a lowest bet of 1 Php.

When I first held a mobile phone long time ago, I started receiving similar text message as I mentioned above. I can still recall the first one was telling me that I won 800,000PHp. Then included in the message was a name of supposed to be a lawyer and a number to which I can call for further instruction on how to claim the prize.

I was kind of excited but I was skeptical too about the text message and I did not dare to call or text the given number. In the first place I did not join any raffle promo or register for a certain betting game or sort of lottery, so I just ignored it.

I always received such SMS until today and it’s kind of annoying. Sometimes I would reply like “Thank you. I don’t need it.” Or if I am pissed off I would reply to very unpleasant words with dirty finger emoji. But even if you would reply to them they will never receive it because they are using a system generated SMS number for sending text messages. I don’t know what they call it but it is like using a free SMS app or website.

I can ignore all of those messages even if it just adds to junk messages in my inbox. But one thing that was kind of alarming was when I received a scammer message mentioning my full name followed by a message like “(My name) Gusto mo bang makamit ang financial freedom? Sumali at idownload ang mybitglobal (link)” (Do you want to achieve financial freedom? Join and download mybitgolbal).

I was like, heck! How did these guys know my name and my cellphone number? I think of the possibilities where they can get such information from me. Maybe some loans that I have engaged in the past or some organization that I have entered my name and contact. Perhaps somebody working there is connected to scammers that is why they can easily get information from people.

How to avoid scam SMS?

Smartphones these days have built-in SMS and call block features. You don’t need to install a blacklist app. All you have to do is to tick on the three dots in your default SMS app and look for a blacklist then add the number to be blocked.

But how can you block random cell phone numbers from coming in your inbox?

In your SMS app settings for blocked numbers, there are so-called “Interception rules” or whatever is the label depending on the phone brand. There you can add the most common keywords used by scammers in their text messages. In my case I have added the words BONUS, EARN, GAME, JACKPOT, REWARD, and MILLION.  You can add as many keywords as you want but for me I only add those words that appeared in the scam messages.

There is no way that these scam SMS can be stopped. As for me this is the only solution I can do. Although I can still receive those scam SMS somehow it automatically be blocked depending on the restriction assigned.

Remember that we cannot be scammed if we will not allow them to scam us. As long as you did not give any of your personal information to anyone you will not have to worry about losing your money.

Don’t click any links or download any apps that you don’t trust.

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