By Joann Villanueva
November 14, 2025, 3:55 pm
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MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) warned the public on Friday that only scammers would send links through the short messaging system (SMS) or text message.
BSP, in a press release, said legitimate banks, e-money issuers, and other financial entities will not send links, even though the messages look like it came from these regulated institutions.
This scheme is called text hijacking that “involves scammers inserting fake messages into legitimate text threads to make them look authentic.”
“These messages often contain malicious links designed to steal access to victims’ financial accounts and are usually accompanied by urgent prompts such as notifications of expiring rewards, unauthorized transactions, or account verification requests to pressure recipients into clicking the link,” it said.
Reports about fraudulent text messages continue to rise, the BSP noted.
This, even as the central bank and other financial institutions have increased their education campaign aimed to inform the public about this scam.
The public is advised to avoid clicking links in text messages or e-mails even if they appear to come from banks or e-money issuers; enable multi-factor authentication to secure accounts and never share personal or financial details with anyone.
If the account has been compromised, contact the bank or e-money issuer through official channels: https://bit.ly/BSPScamAlert
The BSP is urging the public to report these incidents to:
DICT Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center: https://cicc.gov.ph/report/
PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group Complaint Action Center: https://acg.pnp.gov.ph/contact-us/. (PNA)
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