File image / Jerome Cristobal
MANILA, Philippines — Cybercrime cases, specifically online scams, have gotten worse recently and even exceeded the country’s problem with illegal drugs, an official of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Thursday.
Citing reports from the Philippine National Police (PNP), PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said cases of scamming nationwide have proliferated given that perpetrators have a slimmer chance of getting caught compared to those involved with illegal drugs.
“Yes [worse na ang problem sa scamming rather than drugs]. Pwede po natin sabihin even sa record ng PNP mas mataas yung scamming or online crimes kesa sa ordinary crimes,” Cruz disclosed in a press conference in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Thursday.
(Yes, the problem with online scams is now worse than drugs; even the record from PNP reflects that scam cases have exceeded ordinary crime cases.)
Cruz made this statement after a PAOCC-invited resource person and IT expert, Mike Santos, showed how scammers were able to register SIM cards under cartoon and anime characters’ identities, which he said explains the increase in the number of pre-registered SIMs.
To stop this, Cruz suggested telcos stop the online registration process for existing SIM card owners and impose a manual or face-to-face process for new owners.
READ: How could it happen? Fake IDs with animal faces pass SIM registration
The PAOCC official likewise urged legislators to amend the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the SIM Registration Act, which only covers owners’ responsibility, who must “enter their information correctly and honestly” upon application.
Data-sharing agreement between telcos and gov’t
On the other hand, PAOCC senior technical advisor Winston John Casio suggested the current administration could draft an executive order allowing 16 government agencies that issue national identification cards to ink a data-sharing agreement with telcos.
“A simple solution is for the executive department to come up with an executive order allowing the 16 government agencies to enter into a data-sharing agreement with telcos — allowing telcos access to the database,” Casio said.
“Kapag ganun na po pag nagpakita ng ID sa system nila (telcos) maveverify sa database sa SSS (Social Security System) tama kaya ito? Totong tao kaya ito? As simple as that,” he added.
(So telcos can verify with the database of SSS if the applicant who registered is a real person. As simple as that.)