National Telecommunications Commission urged to move vs sim-swap scam

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Grace Poe is urging the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to immediately address the so-called SIM-swap scam that has been reported by various individuals in recent months.

Poe has filed a resolution calling on the NTC to take swift action against this new kind of scam, which she said poses a serious threat on the banking and telecommunications industries, as well as the mobile phone subscribers.

“Phone scams like SIM swapping are becoming increasingly prevalent, thus there is a need to develop new methods that would protect the public from such fraud,” Poe said.

SIM swapping is a relatively new crime in the Philippines where the perpetrators claim to be legitimate post-paid subscribers and request telecommunications companies to replace their SIM cards, which they then use for fraudulent activities.

Based on the complaints that have been made involving the scam, the perpetrators steal online banking information and other sensitive details of customers associated with their e-mail and social media accounts, and even manage to illegally transfer bank funds through their mobile phones.

In her resolution, Poe said the NTC should move fast to combat SIM swap fraud and other cases of mobile identity theft.

“The NTC must act swiftly on the SIM swap scam and cases of identity theft involving post-paid mobile phone subscribers that jeopardize sensitive and confidential banking information and pose a threat to the banking and telecommunications industry, for the purpose of protecting the public,” Poe said.

Poe also asked the NTC to draft the necessary guidelines and impose penalties against the telecommunications companies that expose personal information of its subscribers with the proper authorization from the legitimate subscriber.

“Telcos, specifically their agents, must be warned against sharing personal and confidential information of customers to third party entities to prevent cases of identity fraud and unsolicited promotional messages,” she said.

Poe aired her concern about the “vulnerability of mobile number authentication and the weakness of telcos in verifying from legitimate post-paid subscribers if, indeed, they requested a SIM card replacement or applies for a new phone lines, especially if the subscriber was not the one who made such request.”