Amid rising scams, CCAP supports SIM registration

TO reduce credit card scams, an industry group is calling for the speedy approval of a bill aimed at requiring the registration of all SIM (subscriber identity module) cards used in mobile phones.

The Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said that House Bill 7233 (SIM Card Registration Act)—approved in the 17th Congress and endorsed to the Senate in May 2018—could help curb the rising cases of credit card fraud.

The proposed bill is requiring SIM card owners to declare their full name, birthdate, gender and address.

Such information will allow authorities to identify the SIM card holders in case their device was used for illegal schemes, the CCAP said.

“This [bill] will minimize, if not totally stop, the use of prepaid mobile phone numbers for committing credit card fraud because it will eliminate the cloak of anonymity provided by prepaid SIM cards,” CCAP Executive Director Alex B. Ilagan told the Businessmirror.

With a shift to remote payments, Ilagan noted that fraud in card-not-present (CNP) transactions increased. Such types of fraudulent activities usually occur with transactions completed online.

CNP fraud rose by 29 percent in April to November in 2020 compared in the same period in 2019, according to CCAP data.

Ilagan also urged the government to help in raising awareness about credit card fraud and implement tighter surveillance on social media and the dark web.

In addition, CCAP called for stricter penalties for perpetrators of fraudulent schemes.

There should be “penalty to be imposed on money mules, as well as individuals that cooperate with the fraudsters/scammers to receive funds and goods taken from these fraudulent activities,” Ilagan said.

Ilagan, meanwhile, suggested widening the coverage of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 in relation to the Philippine Credit Card Industry Regulation Law (Republic Act 10870) on credit card fraud investigations.

With the increased usage of digital platforms, the CCAP said that the regulation should also apply to financial technology firms, digital payment platforms and even telecommunications. Ilagan noted that its current scope includes credit card issuers, their officers, employees and agents.

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian earlier said that P1-million worth of orders via food delivery app Foodpanda were booked without his consent, with hackers using his credit card to pay for the transactions.

The senator said he only noticed that his credit card was used by hackers around 6 p.m. of January 5. Looking at the history, there were four food order transactions completed by the hackers in about an hour.

Union Bank of the Philippines, the government official’s credit card issuer, said it has acted accordingly to address the issue. It also assured the public its cybersecurity system has remained uncompromised despite the credit card hacking incident.