Globe Telecom, a member of the Ayala Group, has blocked another record-high number of fraud-linked SIMs in the first nine months of the year via its Stop Spam reporting portal.

In a statement, the firm said it has observed “a staggering rise in the number of SIMs from other networks used in spam and scam activities.”

Globe said it blocked a total of 154,569 SIMs in the first nine months of the year, including 148,515 from other networks blacklisted, and 6,054 from its own network deactivated. 

This represents a steep climb from the total 35,558 blacklisted and deactivated SIMs within the same period last year.

Notably, blacklisted SIMs– which include numbers from other networks– soared this year with 148,515 as of end September, an increase of over 667.8 percent from the same period last year at 19,343.

Meanwhile, the number of Globe SIMs deactivated over fraud links decreased, from 16,215 in the first nine months of 2022, to 6,054 in the same three quarters, a 62.66 percent decline.

“With our proactive efforts via our Stop Spam portal bolstered by the SIM Registration Law, we were able to block a new record high in SIMs linked to fraud. Through collaboration and use of technology, we are gaining headway against these criminals,” said Globe Chief Information Security Officer Anton Bonifacio.

The company said it has invested heavily in state-of-the-art systems for detecting and blocking spam. It has spent $20 million on its Security Operations Center, which works round-the-clock to filter out unwanted messages, including app-to-person and person-to-person SMS from international and domestic sources.

Globe encourages customers to continue to report suspicious messages from unknown senders to its #StopSPAM portal.