65 charged for Globe Telecom theft, fraud

MANILA, Philippines – Authorities arrested and charged 65 alleged thieves and fraudsters who were using the name and resources of Globe Telecom, the telecommunication firm said.

The Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation arrested and charged 12 individuals with estafa for illegal recontracting and subscription fraud; 31 for illegal sale of the company’s modems; and 20 for cable theft.

The perpetrators violated the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and can be imprisoned for at least 6 years or fined at least P200,000 relative to the damage incurred.

Froilan Castelo, Globe general legal counsel, said that their company “remains relentless in pursuing its campaign against all types of fraud that can put the company in a bad light and negatively affect legitimate Globe customers.”

“We encourage everyone to only transact with legitimate sellers and distributors or go directly to any of the numerous Globe Stores to ensure that they only get quality services and after-sales support. And to those who have already fallen victim to illegal activities including cyber fraud, Globe will not hesitate to bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said in a statement.

As an added security measure, Globe has installed closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in all their stores. The footages can be used as evidence in police investigations and legal prosecution against fraudulent activities.

“We would like to assure the public, especially our customers, that cybercrime investigation is now equally sophisticated and can yield results that will hopefully prevent similar occurrences from happening,” Castelo added.

NBI also said that it was important for them to work with these companies to solve crimes committed online.

“Napakaimportante ng role ng telco companies and ISPs kasi pag computer-related crime sa Internet, nag-iiwan ‘yan ng digital footprints tulad ng mga IP addresses, mga logs, recovered data, ‘yun ‘yung mga kailangan namin,” said Victor Lorenzo, executive officer of NBI’s cybercrime division.

(The role of telecommunication companies and internet service providers is important with computer-related crime on the Internet. [Criminals] leave digital footprints like Internet Protocol addresses, logs, and recovered data we need.)

Identity theft

In another incident connected with Globe, a man fell victim to identity theft and almost lost P48,000 through an online bank transfer. His Facebook post about the experience has become viral.

Ian Caballero, a Globe post-paid subscriber, reported on July 2 that his SIM card did not have any signal and requested for a replacement. However, the Globe operator told him that someone had already processed a SIM replacement a few hours before his call.

Caballero immediately ordered the operator to cancel the active SIM card since all his online accounts were connected with the number. After recovering all his accounts, Caballero received an email from his bank informing him of a P48,000 transfer to another local bank. Fortunately, the transfer was not cleared and Caballero recovered the money.

Anton Bonifacio, vice president for information security at Globe, said they are looking at the case as a “targeted attack” since the perpetrator submitted all the necessary verification requirements to change SIM cards.

“Nag-submit ng documents, may authorization letter, SSS ID ng subscriber namin, driver’s license so talagang nag-request ng change SIM. So sinunod talaga ‘yung verification processes namin kasi meron siyang documents,” Bonifacio said.

(All documents were submitted, there was an authorization letter, the subscriber’s Social Security System ID, driver’s license, so verification processes were really followed.)

NBI investigators have already requested for the CCTV footages from the store where the Caballero’s SIM card was replaced.

Probers are still investigating how all the victim’s vital information were obtained but have yet to release a statement regarding the case. – Rappler.com