The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has issued a public warning about the existence of scams that solicit fees for SIM card registration assistance. The DICT has urged individuals to be vigilant and to avoid providing personal information to any individual or organization that attempts to charge for SIM card registration assistance.
Providing personal information to scammers may lead to identity theft, financial loss, and other crimes. This follows similar warnings from telecommunications companies regarding scammers posing as online SIM card registration assistance platforms. The DICT has emphasized that it is against the law to use personal information obtained from registrants, buy registered SIM cards, or engage in other illegal activities related to SIM card registration. Those found guilty of such offences are punishable by fines or imprisonment.
To combat this issue, the DICT has collaborated with other agencies to create a 24/7 complaint center that is available to assist consumers. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has also committed to supporting the SIM card registration law. DILG Undersecretary Margarita N. Gutierrez stated that the DILG and local government units are fully committed to assisting and supporting the DICT in enforcing this law, to ensure that the implementation of the SIM card registration is successful.
The DICT has also created a hotline (1326) managed by its Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center that consumers can use to report any issues related to SIM card registration. Consumers are urged to use this hotline to report any suspicious activity, or any incidents where they feel that they have been scammed.
The DICT announced on Monday that over 16 million SIM cards have been registered, which represents 9.56% of the total 170 million SIM cards across the country. This highlights the importance of ensuring that SIM card registration is done legally, to protect consumers and their personal information.
