Grace Poe: Longer SIM registration must not extend heydays of scammers
Published Mar 19, 2023 06:51 am
Senator Grace Poe, on Sunday, March 19 called on authorities to clamp down on mobile phone scammers without providing any letup on the ongoing Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration.
Poe, principal author of the SIM Registration Act, said scam messages through text still appear in the inbox of subscribers, including recent messages saying their online bank account has been blocked.
“There are still SIM farms out there and spoofing tools. Sinister minds will never stop hatching ways of stealing information and duping people,” Poe said in a statement.
The senator said that while the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) reported a reduction in spam messages, “we must never underestimate the lawbreakers.”
Poe also said the DICT and all telecommunications companies (Telcos) should pull out all the stops to make the public register their SIM number on or before the April 26, 2023 deadline. The DICT has said that around 45.8 million or 27.12 percent of the 169 million SIMs are in use nationwide.
Republic Act No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act, requires all existing subscribers to enlist their mobile numbers with their service network.
The law aims to make it easier for the government to easily track digital fraud and make eradicate online and text scammers accountable for deceptive activities.
She said the DICT may decide to extend the period of enlistment for 120 days more, but all unregistered SIM cards would then be deactivated.
The DICT has said it is eyeing an extension of the April 26 deadline since only 25 percent of subscribers so far have enlisted.
While the law allows for an extension, Poe said this should be used to further ramp up government’s campaign on SIM registration.
“With the law, we expect all fraudulent and unwanted text messages to die a natural death. But we must not let our guard down,” Poe said.
“The extension period, if so decided by the DICT, will be for the legitimate subscribers to register and avoid disruption in their mobile phone services. This should not extend the heydays of the scammers,” Poe added.