(PNA file photo by Cristina Arayata)
MANILA -- Digital solutions group Globe is looking at partnering with the airline industry in fighting online fraud, an executive said Thursday.
"We are looking at partnering with the airline industry because they are reopening," Globe's chief information security officer Anton Bonifacio said in a webinar.
He added that airlines could send them the websites and numbers to be blocked.
Bonifacio said blocking is not enough, as the people behind cybercrimes must be put behind bars.
The firm on Thursday partnered with a private bank for data sharing, which would help prevent online fraud even more.
Data sharing will be secured and encrypted to ensure that only authorized persons will have access to critical information. With this partnership, the cybercriminals may be tracked faster, the company said.
Bonifacio said he is looking at partnering with the airline industry since they are also often victimized by scams.
He also expressed his hope that the next government leaders would push for the authentication of callers or numbers.
Globe has blocked some 1.5 billion scam and spam messages, about 7000 numbers linked to scammers, and 2000 phishing sites and unofficial social media accounts in 2021.
Late last month, local carriers Philippine Airlines (PAL) and AirAsia Philippines warned the public against online scams. Fake websites and social media pages offering promotional fares have been proliferating, luring the public and misleading them that these are official promotion sites.
"They (bogus websites) request you to give personal information such as bank account details," according to PAL's advisory, adding that bank account details are not requested when booking through any of the official booking channels.
AirAsia Philippines has also warned the public against fraudulent job offers from text messages and fake email addresses of people who claim to be employees of the carrier.
Most of the victims were from provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao who have "very limited opportunities in verifying the legitimacy of such offers," it said. The carrier said job openings are made available only through its website and other verified recruitment portals.
Local carriers are expecting a surge in the demand for flights as the country will welcome all international tourists beginning April 1. The demand for domestic flights has also increased since most areas in the country have eased restrictions.
Flight frequencies will be increased among some local destinations due to increasing demand, and budget carriers have announced they are expecting to recover to their pre-pandemic domestic capacity by the second quarter of 2022. (PNA)
