CURBING TEXT SCAMS. A staff member of a telecommunications company (left) helps a client in registering his subscriber identity module card at a stall at the Quezon City Hall grounds on April. 25, 2023. Republic Act 11934 or the SIM Card Registration law seeks to put an end to scams. (PNA photo by Ben Briones)
PH | Solon suggests raising the charge for registering a fourth SIM card | MANILA – On Thursday, a senator said that text scams can be stopped by making it cost more to register a fourth subscriber identity module (SIM) card.
Senator Francis Tolentino said that scammers usually buy 50 to 100 SIM cards so they can use different phone numbers to trick people.
“Our goal here is to help our poor neighbours who only have one or two cellphones, and especially those who have the means to commit crime, like scammers who buy single- or double-SIM cards now that their prices have gone up.”
He gave as an example the rules in subdivisions and schools, which say that people with more than one car have to pay more for their stickers.
Tolentino said, “The rent for our neighbours who live in condos is more expensive if they have two cars and want to park in an extra spot.” “The rent for our neighbours who live in condos and rent two cars is also more expensive,” he added.
During a recent Senate hearing, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian asked the National Telecommunications Commission to do a post validation on registered SIM cards to make sure that the people who are listed are real.
Gatchalian made the call because text scams were becoming more common after the FBI revealed that registered SIM card owners sell their SIM cards.
He said that post-validation could stop people with fake IDs from getting SIM cards and keep them from being used by gangs.
“Monkeys and horses can’t be registered. “We need to do something, or this will keep happening,” he said. (via PNA)
