SIM card law billed to end text scams
SEN. Grace Poe prodded fellow senators and congressmen to frontload passage of a law mandating the registration of SIM cards in a determined bid to “effectively end” text scams as soon as Congress reconvenes regular sessions in July.
Poe pointed out that “unless a law is passed, the bombardment of unwanted text messages will persist,” stressing that what is needed is “more than band-aid solutions to these unrelenting scams.”
The senator conveyed in a radio interview her determination to refile the original bill intended to “make the registration of all SIM cards a prerequisite to their sale.”
She added the SIM Card Registration bill was intended to make way to effectively thwart ram pant texts cams.
The persistent problem now, she warned, is the proliferation of scammers offering jobs and once an applicant provides the personal information he or she will be a victim of “identity theft.”
“Ang problema kasi ngayon, dumarami ang manloloko, nag-aalok ng trabaho na kapag ibinigay mo ang iyong impormasyon, ’yun pala pagnanakawan ka,”
Poe lamented, adding that: “Mahirap habulin ang mga ’yan, sapagkat marami sa kanila ay prepaid [SIM cards] ang ginagamit. Hindi nakarehistro ’yan.”
As provided in Poe’s bill in the last Congress, all existing prepaid SIM card subscribers with active services shall register within 180 days from the effectivity of the proposed law. At the same time, telcos will be authorized to deactivate SIM card numbers that have not been registered within the prescribed period.
Poe pointed out that in the absence of a protection provided in a law, “the public becomes vulnerable to fraudulent transactions that place their sensitive data such as bank accounts, passwords, profiles, among other information, at risk.”
The lawmaker lamented that despite efforts by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and telecommunications companies warning the public against text scams and make them block or report the messages, Poe bewailed text scams have remained rampant.