The Department of Information and Communications Technology said Tuesday it plans to put a cap on the number of SIM cards a prepaid subscriber can register to resolve the “alarming” cases of text scams.
“It’s alarming in a sense that every day we experience it. Our estimate based on our study since November shows that for every one hi-jacked account, there are at least 10 successful online financial crimes,” Alexander Ramos, executive director of DICT’s Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center, said on the sidelines of the Cyberphere Philippines Forum 2023.
Ramos estimated that potential losses to cybercrime amounted to about P50,000 to P500,000 per account.
He said to address the rising complaints of text scams amid SIM registration, the agency was working with the National Telecommunications Commission to craft guidelines to limit the number of registered SIMs per subscriber.
“We detected 600 registered SIMs under one name. So, its abnormal for a prepaid subscriber to have more than 10 SIM cards being registered under one name,” Ramos said.
He said the government was looking to limit the number of registered SIM cards to 10.
“They [telcos] find 10 is reasonable, but for us, it’s only four to five because that’s the average number of SIMs of the prepaid market,” he said.
Data from the NTC showed that a total of 113,969,014 SIM cards were registered as of July 30, the end of the SIM card registration period.
“It’s crucial to recognize that the fight against scams in the Philippines is not just a legislative or governmental issue, it’s a community concern that affects us all,” said Jocel de Guzman, co-founder and co-lead convenor of Scam Watch Pilipinas.
“The SIM registration law has laid the groundwork, but more is needed. Scams are a fast-evolving menace, exploiting loopholes and adapting to countermeasures with alarming speed. The ongoing prevalence of scam messages exposes a gap in our collective shield, a vulnerability that scammers are too eager to exploit,” he said.
De Guzman said increased penalties might be a stronger deterrent, but the union of government action, corporate responsibility and public vigilance would create an effective bulwark against scams.
“Through joint efforts, we can aim for better laws and a more informed and cautious public, making it increasingly difficult for scammers to operate. As we advance in the digital age, our strategies to combat scams must evolve in tandem,” he said.
“Only through multi-layered, cooperative efforts can we hope to stem the tide of this criminal activity and ensure a safer digital space for Filipinos. Therefore, the need for immediate, collective action could not be more urgent, as each delay only grants scammers more opportunities to victimize and undermine the security of the Filipinos,” De Guzman said.
ScamWatchPH is a cybersecurity movement aimed at educating Filipinos against cyber fraud and online scams. It recently signed a covenant with DICT, CICC, NTC and National Privacy Commission to institutionalize the movement as the government’s national citizen arm for cybercrime prevention.
