Filipinos were told to brace for a possible uptick in mobile text scams and spams following the 90-day extension given to the mandatory SIM card registration. (Unsplash)
In a public briefing on Tuesday afternoon, April 25, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy said the average number of text scams being received by Filipinos may increase. “Unfortunately, with this announcement of a 90-day extension, we expect that text scams will increase again because we have given them a 90-day window to continue their activities. It was a pro and con thing and it was difficult for us to make this decision, but again we want the public to avail of the SIM card registration,” said Uy. The principal goal of the law is to end mobile crimes, especially the proliferation of text scams and phishing. “Ultimately, it is for our own good and to protect the public from all these criminal activities. I am just issuing this warning to the public: expect an increase in scams within this 90-day period because we’ve opened the floodgates again,” Uy furthered. One of the factors behind the low registration turnout, according to Uy, is the “delayed compliance” of some Filipinos. More than 87 million cards have so far been registered nationwide.