DICT confirms ‘registered SIM for sale’ modus
DICT Secretary Ivan Uy has confirmed the existence of syndicates selling SIM cards in bulk, with these cards coming from citizens who have already registered them under their names.
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DICT Secretary Ivan Uy has confirmed the existence of syndicates selling SIM cards in bulk, with these cards coming from citizens who have already registered them under their names.
After the National Privacy Commission recently revealed the "registered SIM for sale" modus operandi of shadowy syndicates, the Department of Information and Communications Technology confirmed such crime, stating that six individuals have already been collared by authorities for selling 25,000 pieces of registered SIM cards in Pasay City.
In a radio interview on Saturday, DICT secretary Ivan Uy confirmed that there are syndicates selling SIM cards in bulk, coming from citizens who already registered them under their names.
Uy said each SIM is worth at least P500. "Each of these sellers register 10 SIM cards under their names. What they don't know is that kapag naghabla tayo dahil ginamit ang mga SIM cards sa panloloko, kasama sila sa habla ng criminal case" according to Uy. (What they don't know is that when a case is filed against those using the SIM cards intending to con people, they will also be involved in the criminal case).
Syndicates apprehended
He said currently, the Philippine National Police is already able to apprehend "many" syndicates involved in this type of fraud, the latest of which involved six individuals operating on 25,000 pre-registered SIMs in Pasay City.
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"About P1 billion worth of registered SIM cards were already seized by authorities," Uy said, warning the public from participating in selling their registered SIMs.
The National Telecommunications Commission earlier said they have already logged over 118 million subscribers.
Pursuant to the provisions of the SIM Registration Act, severe penalties shall be imposed upon those involved in the sale or transfer of a registered SIM without complying with required registration or without properly informing the telco concerned, particularly Section 11 (g) of the SIM Registration Act, wherein individuals found guilty of selling or transferring a registered SIM card without complying with the required registration under Section 6 of the same law may be subject to imprisonment ranging from six months to six years, or a fine of P100,000 to P300,000, or both.
Alert raised
On Thursday, the National Privacy Commission raised an alert on the modus operandi of registered SIMs being sold, prompting the agency to caution the public on the serious ramifications it can affect Filipino mobile users.
The NPC maintained that "the practice is not only prohibited under the SIM Registration Act (RA 11934) but also places data subjects in a vulnerable position, exposing them to potential legal repercussions, risks, and harm if a SIM card, registered in their name, is misused for illicit activities."
