Tovic Salvador

Article (news)

Jhon Dave Cusipag

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788413937513website.png" style="width: 960px; display: block; height: auto;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960">&quot;Scam Ba &#39;To?&quot; is a web-based platform that combines message behavior, transaction context, link analysis, verified organization information, and explainable risk guidance.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div>MANILA &mdash; An information technology professor has developed an online tool that aims to help Filipinos spot potential scam messages.John Clement Escoba&ntilde;ez, a professor at National University-Manila, developed &ldquo;<a href="https://www.scambato.org/">Scam Ba &lsquo;To?</a>,&rdquo; a website where users can paste suspicious messages to determine whether they are scams or not.The idea for the project partly came from something that regularly happened in his own family.&ldquo;Marami kasing mga kamag-anak, kasi ako &lsquo;yung IT sa pamilya namin, na sinesendan nila ako ng mga screenshot or mga message na nare-receive nila,&rdquo; Escoba&ntilde;ez said.<div>&ldquo;Worried sila kung ano &lsquo;yung magiging effect noon kapag nag-engage sila sa mga messages na &lsquo;yun,&rdquo; he added. <img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788413468941john-clement-escobanez-headshot-square.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960">John Clement S. Escoba&ntilde;ez is an information technology educator, researcher, and developer based in the Philippines. He is the developer and project lead of &quot;Scam Ba &rsquo;To?&quot;Escoba&ntilde;ez said he had also been reading news reports about Filipinos falling victim to scams.</div>Those experiences led him to develop a tool that could help people assess suspicious messages themselves.Escoba&ntilde;ez said that while scam messages cannot be completely avoided, Filipinos can learn how to deal with them properly.&ldquo;The inspiration behind &lsquo;Scam Ba &lsquo;To?&rsquo; is to educate Filipinos&hellip; kung paano sila makakapag-engage sa mga ganitong klaseng message, [sa] mga scam messages na nare-receive nila,&rdquo; he said.Scam messages have remained a persistent problem in the country.&nbsp;The <a href="https://gasa.org/knowledge-base/reports/state-of-scams-in-the-philippines-2025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2025 State of Scams in the Philippines</a> report by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance found that 77% of Filipino adults surveyed had encountered a scam, with text messages emerging as the most common channel used by scammers.The same study also found that 17% of respondents could not tell whether the messages they received were scams. How does it work? Users who receive a suspicious message may copy the text and paste it into the website&#39;s text box.The website then provides information indicating whether the message could be a scam.<div>According to Escoba&ntilde;ez, a green result indicates that the message is considered safe by the system. <img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788413708848Screenshot_3-9-2026_133457_www.scambato.org.jpeg" style="width: 633px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A test run of the website indicates that the pasted text message is a potential scam.</div>If the result is red, users are advised not to engage with the message due to a high possibility that it is a scam.&quot;Kapag nakakita sila ng red sa website natin, hindi dapat sila mag-engage sa na-receive nila na text message dahil malaki &lsquo;yung chance na scam message yung na-receive nila,&rdquo; he said.Escoba&ntilde;ez said the website uses what he described as &ldquo;intelligence profiles&rdquo; from legitimate banks, schools, government agencies and organizations.He said the system was run around 40,000 times to improve its ability to detect scam messages.The system also has more than 6,000 &ldquo;behavioral representatives,&rdquo; which Escoba&ntilde;ez said work with an engine he developed to distinguish scam messages from legitimate ones and provide relevant information to users.Escoba&ntilde;ez said his project does not store messages submitted by users.He said the website has a privacy policy stating that it does not collect information from users. It also reminds users not to enter personal or sensitive information, including names, passwords and card verification values or CVVs, into the text box.&ldquo;Kahit i-check &lsquo;yan ng mga developers, wala tayong ini-store na data sa website natin,&rdquo; Escoba&ntilde;ez said.For Escoba&ntilde;ez, however, tools such as &ldquo;Scam Ba &lsquo;To?&rdquo; are only part of the solution. He said Filipinos should also learn to scrutinize the messages they receive, particularly as scammers find ways to impersonate legitimate institutions.&ldquo;Dapat ang matutunan natin as a Filipino citizen is kung paano tayo makakapag-engage sa mga nare-receive natin na mga messages,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Dapat alam natin i-distinguish kung ano &lsquo;yung scam sa hindi.&rdquo;Escoba&ntilde;ez hopes that his project can help Filipinos be more informed about suspicious messages before they click links and provide sensitive information to potential scammers.

An information technology professor has developed an online tool that aims to help Filipinos spot potential scam messages.

An information technology professor has developed an online tool that aims to help Filipinos spot potential scam messages.

NU professor develops tool to help Filipinos spot scam messages

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NU professor develops tool to help Filipinos spot scam messages

Jhon Dave Cusipag,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 03, 2026 04:45 PM PHT

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