THE number of daily text scam cases has declined from 1,500 to 100 since the start of Subscriber Identity Module Registration in the country, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said.
The SIM card registration, which is a requirement under the law for all SIM users, started on December 27.
Agad napansin po ng NTC na simulang maipatupad itong batas, mula 1,500 na complaints tungkol sa text scam, bumaba na po agad ito to 100 complaints a day,”
NTC Legal Branch Officer-in-charge Andres Castelar Jr.
The deadline for SIM Registration is set on April 26, 2023, but the Department of Information and Communications Technology is studying whether this should be extended.
The latest tally from the NTC showed that as of March 9, the total number of SIM registrations in the country has reached 42.7 million. This represents roughly 25.24 percent of the total 168 million active SIMs since September 2022.
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Telecommunications users must register their SIMs by April 26 in order to avoid having their cards abruptly deactivated, pursuant to the SIM Card Registration Act’s implementing rules and regulations.
This is unless the DICT decides to extend the deadline.
Under the law, the DICT may extend the SIM registration by at least 120 days after the prescribed deadline.
PNP numbers down
In a report that republicasia obtained on Monday, the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) said the agency received a total of 87 cases of text scams from January to March.
This is so far lower than the 187 cases reported in 2022.
“The number of individuals falling victim to text scams is decreasing. This is mainly attributed to the inability of scammers to operate under the guise of anonymity provided by prepaid SIM cards,” Lt. Michelle Sabino, spokesperson of PNP-ACG, told republicasia in a Viber message.
Sabino said the PNP expects the number to go down.
“We anticipate that the numbers will continue to decline as soon as all subscribers comply with the registration requirement,”
Lt. Michelle Sabino
Confidentiality
The NTC said that subscribers’ personal information is protected under the law, and any nonobservance of the telecom provider would result in legal punishments.
The telecom providers are the custodians of the SIM Register, and the law provides harsh penalties for intentional disclosures of SIM registration data or breaches caused by negligence.”
NTC Legal Branch Officer-in-charge Andres Castelar Jr.
Last year, the National Privacy Commission announced that “telcos must ensure the secure, ethical, and responsible handling of data,” specifically all data pertaining to SIM Registration. The commission added that it’s the telcos’ “obligation” to assure its consumers that data privacy and protection are sustained.
Under the SIM Registration Act’s IRR, if telcos, their representatives, or employees disclose subscribers’ data either directly or indirectly, they could face fines ranging from P500,000 to P4,000,000.
