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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Focus on catching scammers, group urges government amid proposal to revise SIM Registration Act

Focus on catching scammers, group urges government amid proposal to revise SIM Registration Act

Published Oct 24, 2024 10:56 am

The national government should focus more on running after cybercriminals and online scammers rather than initiating moves to revise the SIM card registration law, a citizen's rights network said.

The CitizenWatch Philippines said a number of Filipinos continue to suffer financial losses due the continued prevalence of the text scams even with the passage of Republic Act 11934, or the SIM Registration Act.

"CitizenWatch Philippines reminds consumers to remain vigilant as the incidents rise and as malicious actors continue to implement various modus operandi. We also call on our policymakers, law enforcement, and other key stakeholders to ensure the proper implementation of the SIM Registration Act to prevent these incidents," the group said in a statement.

Earlier, Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) reported that around P460 billion has been scammed from Filipinos in the past 12 months, where each Filipino lost an average of $275 or P16,000. 

GASA said that there has been a rising trend in scams in the past 12 months, of which 85 percent have been delivered via text messages.

Lawmakers are looking to revise and update the SIM registration act to 'solve' the issue, but stakeholders like CitizenWatch are saying that the state actors should focus more on catching criminals rather than revising the law.

According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), the number of cybercrimes increased by 21.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023, even with the implementation of the SIM registration.

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