Pre-registered SIMs for sale in Facebook Marketplace

MANILA, Philippines — Pre-registered SIM cards are being openly sold on the Facebook Marketplace, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) revealed yesterday.

PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum that pre-registered SIM cards are sold for P500 each, emphasizing the need for more stringent regulations despite the implementation of the SIM Registration Act.

“If you type ‘registered SIM cards’ in Facebook Marketplace, some results appear. Some are semi-registered SIM cards and used SIM cards,” Cruz said.

He stressed the importance of stringent SIM registration measures in curbing the activities of syndicates involved in various scams, particularly in the realms of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) as well as loan, crypto and love scams.

The use of pre-registered SIM cards allows online and text scammers to evade detection and capture by law enforcers, with only the individuals who bought multiple SIM cards and registered these under their name being tagged in scams perpetrated by scammers.

The phenomenon calls into question the telecommunication companies’ (telcos) sale of multiple SIM cards to individuals, as this goes against the purpose of the SIM Card Registration Law which was enforced earlier this year, aimed at eradicating unsolicited text scams and promotions as well as online scams victimizing consumers.

Cruz also called attention to the fact that individuals are selling their identities for these SIM cards.

When questioned about the liability and responsibility of telecommunications companies regarding the sale of pre-registered SIM cards, Cruz revealed that Senator Grace Poe has initiated an investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is taking action on the reported brisk selling of pre-registered SIM cards on Facebook Marketplace and other electronic shopping or e-commerce platforms in a bid to crack down online scams and cyberfraud.

“DICT will coordinate with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), two of its attached agencies,” ICT Undersecretary for Cybersecurity, Connectivity and Upskilling Jeffrey Ian Dy told The STAR on Viber.

“We would also like to remind the public that they should register it in their own name and contact numbers,” Dy urged.

“Even if the SIM acquired was previously registered, we should reregister the SIM under our own name and identity,” Dy stressed.

“Sale or transfer of a registered SIM without complying with the required registration is punishable with imprisonment of six months up to six years and/or a fine of not more than P300,000,” Dy added.

Smart is in the process of developing technical solutions needed to implement the improvements in the SIM registration processes, including enhanced verification mechanisms, deactivation of SIMs, blocking of P2P SMS messages containing links, blocking access/ attempts to access malicious domains, educating subscribers and coordinating with competent authorities. – Rainier Allan Ronda, Louise Maureen Simeon