Advocacy group CitizenWatch warned the national government against amending the SIM Card Registration Law as it stressed the need to strengthen the law enforcement against fraudsters.

CitizenWatch convenor Orlando Oxales said the proposal to limit SIM ownership is not the solution: “The impact of regulating the number of SIMs one can register will just be an inconvenience to fraudster. It is so easy to bypass such restrictions because there are many ways scammers can gain other ‘unique’ identities.” 

He explained that fraudsters do not usually act on their own but are usually part of a group of organized cybercriminals who resort to identity theft and other sophisticated tactics to pursue their aim.

“What we really need is an enforcement system that goes after scammers, not more laws to burden consumers with,” said Oxales. 

Earlier, a senator has proposed the amendment of the SIM law so that an individual can have a maximum of 10 SIMs, saying having 10 is more than enough for various purposes and transactions.

The proposal also considers making the possession of numerous unregistered SIMs a criminal act.

But Oxales believes that the proposed amendment will unduly burden legitimate consumers like businesses that need to deploy multiple sims for internal communications and online transactions that are essential for operations.

He points out that more focus should be on engaging cybersecurity experts and invest in strengthening the government’s enforcement capacity to fight the relentless attacks of perpetrators of scams, disinformation, and other cybercrime activities.

“To significantly enhance deterrence, we propose to increase both the imprisonment terms and fines for these fraudsters and organized cybercriminals such as removing the current option of choosing between imprisonment or a fine,” Oxales proposed.

“The actions of online fraudsters pose a real threat to consumers, businesses, and the government, with the potential for harm that is tantamount to economic sabotage,” Oxales said. 

The current penalties of the SIM Card Registration Law for fraudulent activities include imprisonment of 6 months to 2 years and fines ranging from ₱100,000 to ₱300,000 for providing false information or using fictitious identification. Similarly, spoofing a registered SIM and selling stolen SIMs carry penalties of 6 months to 2 years imprisonment and/or fines of ₱200,000. Additionally, selling or transferring a registered SIM without proper registration compliance leads to similar penalties, including imprisonment of up to 6 years and fines up to ₱300,000.

Oxales  suggested that a database for ID verification should be established to accurately cross-check the identity of applicants for SIM registration will be helpful for telcos and can even be used for any instance when verification of one’s identity is required.

Oxales asked the government to make public the number of fraudsters who have actually been caught since the implementation of the law in December 2022.

He said it is the citizen consumers who are bound to suffer.

“Scammers continue to proliferate, victimizing or posing harm on those who have already registered their own SIMs to comply with the law and who are simply using it for their everyday purposes,” said Oxales.

“Fraud is a complex issue. Arbitrary limits on SIM registration allowed for a single user will not stop it,” said Oxales.

“So instead of imposing yet more restrictions that can be circumvented anyway, the government should work more closely with telcos to create more solutions against fraud. It is a complex problem that demands sustained action,” he said