7 nabbed for illegal online sale of SIM cards
SEVEN persons accused of involvement in the prohibited online sale of pre-registered Subscriber Identity Module or SIM cards in the country were arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group in a series of entrapment operations last week, PNP-ACG director, Major General Ronnie Francis M. Cariaga said yesterday.
The official said the arrests were made as a result of sting launched by his men in Valenzuela City, Cainta, Rizal, North EDSA, Quezon City and Pedro Gil and Ermita, Manila.
Recovered from the three females and four male suspects were some 400 pre-registered SIM cards. Two of the accused women are twins, Cariaga said.
The PNP-ACG director said their investigation showed that the accused were selling the pre-registered SIM cards online for as much as P3,500 each.
He said that the cost is higher for SIM cards linked to verified accounts with payment service providers.
During questioning, the arrested suspects admitted they engaged in the online sale to earn a daily income as they observed a growing demand for registered SIM cards.
Maj. Gen. Cariaga said they conducted the entrapment operations after their cyber-patrollers detected the widespread online sale of verified and registered SIM cards on various social media platforms, particularly Facebook.
Following the arrest of the seven, the PNP-ACG director reminded the public that the illegal online sale of SIM cards is punishable by law and carries with it significant fines and imprisonment.
The arrested suspects were charged with violation of Republic Act 12010 otherwise known as the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) and Section 7 (Subsequent Sale of Registered SIM Cards) of RA 11934 or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act, in relation to Section 6 of RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
