Poe vows to get to bottom of smishing scams; CICC to bare info in executive session

Getting into the bottom of smishing and text scams that continue to proliferate is a priority for Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services.

Poe agreed to the holding of an executive session proposed by the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC) at the soonest possible time.

"Lumalala na ang scams, wala pa ring naririnig ang publiko sa mga imbestigasyon," said Poe.

At the finance subcommittee hearing on the budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the CICC said there are six syndicates behind the smishing and text scams and requested for an executive session to discuss the matter.

Poe also asked the DICT about concerns on the StaySafe app which many had suspected to be the source of the leak of personal information of mobile subscribers that ended up with some casinos.

Staysafe app was the contact tracing app used by several local government units as well as business establishments at the start of the pandemic.

"Bakit nila sinasabi na sa inyo nanggaling ang leak," Poe asked DICT Undersecretary David Almirol who was with the group that developed the app.

The Staysafe app requires the user to input his/her name, mobile number, home address, as well as health data including one's temperature upon entering the establishment.

"Maybe we can have that as part our executive session. We have to clear the air when it comes to these issues," Poe stressed.

The senator earlier announced that her committee will open a separate hearing on resolutions involving unabated text scams duping many hapless Filipinos.