Gov’t urged to go after phone scammers

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Advocacy rights group CitizenWatch appealed to the government on Friday to go after phone scammers instead of amending the SIM Card Registration Law.

In a statement, CitizenWatch convenor Orlando Oxales said the proposal to limit SIM ownership would mean nothing if law enforcement remains weak and incapable of going after fraudsters.

“The impact of regulating the number of SIMs one can register will just be an inconvenience to fraudster[s],” Oxales said.

“It is so easy to bypass such restrictions because there are many ways scammers can gain other unique identities,” he added.

To prevent mobile-aided scams, Oxales suggested that the government focus on engaging cybersecurity experts and strengthen the government’s enforcement capacity to fight scams, disinformation, and other cybercrime activities.

“To significantly enhance deterrence, we propose to increase both the imprisonment terms and fines for these fraudsters and organized cyber criminals such as removing the current option of choosing between imprisonment or a fine,” Oxales said.

He also suggested that a database for ID verification be established to “cross-check the identity of applicants” for SIM registration.

Republic Act No. 11934, otherwise known as the SIM Card Registration Act, was the first law signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The law seeks to curb electronic communication-aided crimes like mobile phishing and text spam.

READ: Pimentel wants hearing on text scams, SIM registration law ‘loopholes’