(Unsplash)

It's that time of the year again when scammers are active, aplenty, and out to dupe people out of their hard-earned cash. 

As such, Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco warned the public to be wary about increasingly sophisticated text scams targeting e-wallet users this holiday season. 

Tiangco, chairman of the House Committee on Information and Communication Technology, highlighted the rise in scam messages disguised as legitimate e-wallet advisories. 

"Marami po sa ating mga kababayan ang nabiktima na ng mga text scams na nagpapanggap na mula sa mga e-wallets. Maging mapagmatyag po tayo sa modus na ito at huwag mag-click ng links mula sa text messages," he said. 

(Text scams disguised as e-wallet advisories have already victimized a lot of our countrymen. Let's be vigilant with these modus and let's not click links embedded in text messages.) 

Tiangco also called on the Department of Information and Technology (DICT) to step up its efforts against scammers as the holiday season nears. 

"Alam naman natin na habang papalapit ang kapaskuhan, lalong nagiging masipag ang mga scammers," noted the veteran solon. 

(We know that scammers step up their activities whenever Christmas time approaches.) 

"Hindi sapat na minomonitor lang natin ang sitwasyon. Dapat matunton ang mga masasamang loob sa lalong madaling panahon bago pa dumami ang kanilang mga biktima," he added. 

(It's not enough that we monitor the situation. We must track down these no good trickster immediately, before they can victimize more people.) 

According to the DICT, the phishing messages were being sent through an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catcher, a device that tracks, intercepts, and mimic legitimate mobile communications. 

E-wallet providers Maya and GCash have also reminded users never to click on links from unknown texts. 

"After the Marcos administration's ban on POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators), scammers have intensified their tactics to target unsuspecting Filipinos," Tiangco said.