Manila: Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday asked the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and other government agencies to intensify their campaign against scammers.
According to Philippines News Agency, Gatchalian cited the need for the government to crack down on the rampant sale of pre-registered SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards, warning that these are being widely used for financial crimes and online scams, especially with the holiday season approaching when scammers are expected to prey on more victims.
“I am calling on the NTC and DICT to use everything in their power to compel the telcos to come up with mechanisms that would identify the subscribers. You need to come up with an innovative solution. We cannot allow this to continue. The law is already there,” Gatchalian said.
Holiday season scams include phishing emails and texts, fake online stores with fraudulent charities, fake social media promotions, travel scams with fake deals, and ATM skimming.
During a recent Senate hearing on the agencies’ proposed budgets for next year, the senator presented photos of pre-registered SIMs being openly sold on Facebook and Shopee.
One of the authors of the SIM Registration Act, Gatchalian pointed out that the objective of the law, which is to enable law enforcement agencies to identify unscrupulous groups or individuals involved in financial crimes and online scams, has not been achieved because of the availability of pre-registered SIMs to anyone interested.
He urged Filipinos to be cautious of unsolicited messages, verify websites, research charities and avoid sharing personal information to the public.
