SCAM calls in the Philippines jumped by nearly 80 percent in the third quarter of 2025, even as text-based scams continued their dramatic decline, according to new data released Tuesday by anti-scam app Whoscall.
The global scam prevention platform recorded 62,390 scam calls from July to September 2025, representing a 78.44-percent increase from the 34,964 calls logged in the previous quarter.
Mel Migriño, Country Head and General Manager of Gogolook Philippines, the company behind Whoscall, said the spike signals a tactical shift by fraudsters who are increasingly impersonating banks, collection agencies, and telemarketing firms to target unsuspecting Filipinos.
‘We see abuse on third-party brands-meaning those that are pretending to be a business identity, a bank, a collection agency, or even telemarketers,’ she said in a press briefing on Tuesday. ‘That will continue to surge until we finish off this year.’
Filipinos, Migriño explained, love rewards and promos. Hence, scammers are mimicking legitimate promotional calls like credit card limit upgrades and rewards, following a spiel and ‘operating like a call center’ to make their scams sound more believable to unsuspecting consumers.
Looking ahead to the final quarter of 2025, she expects scam calls to continue rising through the holiday season, driven by Filipinos’ appetite for rewards and loans during the ‘ber months.’
However, she does not anticipate figures reaching the levels seen in 2024.
‘Maybe not the same figure as last year, when we were at six digits. It could breach potentially, but not to the point that it’s going to be like half a million-not as significant,’ Migriño said.
Furthermore, scammers are now using AI in voice scams. According to Migriño, ‘less than 10 percent of total scam calls’ were powered by AI.
Despite the quarterly surge, scam calls remain 62.24 percent lower year-on-year compared to 165,236 calls recorded in the third quarter of 2024, largely due to law enforcement raids on major scam hubs last year.
Text scams decline
Meanwhile, SMS scams continued their downward trajectory. Whoscall detected 37,609 text scams in the third quarter of 2025, a 42.17 percent drop from 65,035 in the previous quarter and a staggering 97.71 percent decline year-on-year from the 1.6 million SMS scams recorded in the third quarter of 2024.
Migriño attributed the sharp decline in SMS scams to increased public awareness driven by a ‘whole-of-society approach’ involving government agencies, law enforcement, and private sector partners.
‘Filipinos now recognize that any SMS from an unknown number with a link is a text scam,’ she said. ‘These collaborations are working.’
Risky URLs, online gambling
Whoscall also detected a 31.65-percent increase in risky URLs, rising from 18,735 in the second quarter to 27,510 in the third quarter. Most of these malicious links imitated loan offers or rewards from banks, jumping from 14,421 to 25,309 cases.
However, online gambling URLs plummeted by 93.61 percent following a massive crackdown led by the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC).
CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Renato Paraiso said that while the numbers are encouraging, maintaining them will be the challenge.
‘What’s important for me is not really the numbers-that 93 percent of online gambling has gone down. My joke is it’s easier to get an A than to maintain an A. So the pressure is on us,’ Paraiso said.
He also announced that CICC together with Scam Watch Pilipinas will launch educational campaigns about the ’12 scams of Christmas’ to help Filipinos navigate various fraud schemes expected to proliferate during the holiday season.
‘We continue to urge the public to report scam incidents, as these serve as leads for further investigation and as the foundation for various initiatives that raise public awareness against online scams,’ Paraiso said.