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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider NBI arrests 2 persons for 'selling fraudulent SIM cards'

NBI arrests 2 persons for 'selling fraudulent SIM cards'

Published May 8, 2025 01:30 pm
Two persons have been arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in separate locations in Caloocan City for selling alleged fraudulent Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.
The NBI identified the two suspects as Marvin Eugenio and Marcedes Clemente who are now facing charges of violations of Republic Act (RA) No. 12010, the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA); RA 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, for illegal interception and misuse of devices; and RA No. 8484, the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 in relation to RA No. 10175.
It said the suspects were arrested last May 3 in Tala and Bagong Silang by operatives of the NBI Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD) and NBI Special Task Force (NBI-STF) which served Warrants to Search, Seize, and Examine Computer Data (WSSECD) issued by Caloocan City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 123.
“The operation also resulted in the seizure of 6,000 suspected pre-registered SIM Cards, four sets of 32-port SIM Banks, and a set of computers and several cell phones,” it also said.
The seized items underwent digital forensic examination which revealed “the subjects had used software installed on their computers to intercept and save facial recognition data utilized as passwords or authentication for online financial accounts and digital wallets, such as GCash and other platforms,” it added.
The NBI explained that “the data, along with physical SIM cards, was sold to fraudsters and scammers to assist in their money laundering activities.”
“The modus operandi of Subjects Eugenio and Clemente was confirmed by the conversation threads found in their online messaging applications,” it added.
It also said that the activities of Eugenio and Clemente were discovered during the cyber patrolling conducted by the NBI-CCD and NBI-STF in response to the increasing threats posed by individuals using fake digital financial accounts, the NBI said.
The accounts, which include falsified or counterfeit wallets, are used to conceal the origin of illicit funds or to facilitate fraudulent transactions, it also said.
“The primary goal of this initiative was to identify and dismantle networks responsible for creating and using these dummy wallets,” it added.
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