MANILA (UPDATE) -- The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Tuesday told Filipinos to be alert against "text hijacking" this Christmas. 

The BSP explained that text hijacking is when scammers insert themselves into text message conversations between users and financial institutions, making them seem trustworthy.

The BSP said suspects behind text hijacking use devices that broadcast a stronger signal than nearby legitimate cellular towers, tricking phones in an area into connecting to them instead of the real network. 

"Once connected, fraudsters can then send SMS or text messages with malicious content or phishing links to achieve their objectives, potentially compromising sensitive information," the BSP said. 

The central bank said Filipinos can stop themselves from falling victim to text hijacking by not clicking any links sent through text messages. 

"Remember that banks (or) e-money issuers will NEVER ask you to click a link sent through email or SMS to execute transactions that you did not initiate," the BSP stressed.

The public must also report suspicious transactions in their accounts to their banks and e-wallets.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) admitted that text scams or scam messages still exist even with the passing of the SIM Registration law.

Text scams continue despite SIM registration, DICT admits

But the DICT said it has shut down scam hubs in the Philippines as part of its efforts to combat fraudulent digital operations.

CULTURE OF 'BAKA SAKALI'

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Council (CICC) and digital advocacy group Scam Watch Pilipinas said bad actors have gotten better with their modus. 

Scam Watch Pilipinas co-founder Jocel de Guzman said Filipinos can identify scammers but for some reason, they are still being victimized.  

”Nasa culture natin yung mag-entertain ng mga taong hindi natin kakilala. Yung pamamaraaan kasi ng mga scammers, dinadaan ka sa ibat-ibang emotions kahit at the back of our mind alam nating mali - meron tayong tinatawag na Filipino ethical value na pagbabakasakali,” De Guzman told ABS-CBN News. 

Speaking to ABS-CBN News Channel’s Business Outlook, de Guzman said, phishing scams are usually delivered via text message, email or through different types of messaging apps. 

“Its always been delivered via text, email address, messengers and messaging apps, and the most common denominator there is that there’s always a link. As soon as you click the link, you’ll be surprised that they will take you - let’s say if its your bank - they will take you to your bank’s website, and its very similar and you will be asked to (encode) your username, your passcode and they will be able to access you account already,” De Guzman said. 

According to CICC director Rojun Hosillos, hackers or scammers are using advanced technology to target victims. 

“Our attackers are already very tech savvy, they can implement these technologies in order to perpetrate their crimes, so we have to be very careful with this. Its best that if we get messages even from trusted sources having links - its better not to click on it,” Hosillos told ABS-CBN News Channel. 

Authorities said, scam victims can report to Inter-Agency Response Center (IARC) hotline number 1326.