Group worries 'SIM-aided' crimes will soar as registration deadlines near

MANILA, Philippines — An advocacy group is worried that SIM-based crimes will surge amid the national government’s push to register SIM cards.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Junk SIM Registration Network made this assessment on the back of police data which showed SIM-based crimes skyrocketed 190% to 4,104 in the first six months. The percentage is significantly higher compared to the same period a year ago.

"SIM registration has proven to be an ineffective deterrent against scams in many countries where it was previously implemented," said Maded Batara III, spokesperson of the alliance composed of digital experts, privacy advocates, and consumers.

The statement is just one of many pushed by civil society as the national government’s SIM registration efforts continued. Registration was extended to accommodate a larger segment of the population, despite pushback.

As it is, the state’s move to register SIM cards was met with widespread opposition from civil society groups. Criticisms hurled towards the decision that registering SIM cards in the state’s database were in violation of data protection and privacy laws.

“Despite mandatory registration, scammers have found ways to continue their practices, including buying and selling pre-registered SIMs and shifting their operations to foreign countries,” he said.

“Additionally, scammers are exploiting advancements in technology by leveraging internet-based messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram, thus evading detection through traditional SMS methods,” Batara added.

The national government reassured the public that the data will not be used for wrongdoing, but law enforcement already warned the public of scams targeting prospective registrants. Even then, Singapore, which implemented similar measures years back, remained a hotbed of SIM-related scams.

Back in April, the National Telecommunications Commission lamented that it is not eyeing all SIM cards in the country to be logged into the government registry. This was before the state extended the registration deadline to July 25.

The Junk SIM Registration Network and its allied organizations are set to mount a symbolic protest in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The planned action will be held to urge the High Court to hear a petition filed in April poking holes at the constitutionality of the national government’s SIM registration. — Ramon Royandoyan