THE Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission are alarmed over the continuing text scams even though over 118 million subscribers have already registered their Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards.

The PNP headed by General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. and the PAOCC, chaired by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, and its Executive Director, Gilbert DC Cruz, have mentioned the alarming continued ‘bulk sale’ of SIM cards in the country.

The Journal Group has found out that different social media sites continue to advertise the ‘bulk sale’ of new and used SIM Cards and Prepaid Phone Cards.

The National Privacy Commission earlier warned the public against individuals who offer to buy their registered SIM cards.

According to reports, registered SIM cards are being bought for P1,000 each.

However, the practice puts the original SIM card owners at risk as it might expose them to trouble when the SIM card registered under their name is used in fraudulent online activities and other scams, the NPC noted.

Thus, Filipinos were told to report individuals who offer to buy their SIM cards to their telecommunications service provider since timely reporting will prevent potential misuse of their personal data.

The SIM Registration Act says that those who sell or transfer the ownership of their registered SIM card without following the proper procedure may be imprisoned from six months to six years, or fined P100,000 to P300,000, or both.

The PAOCC and the PNP, specifically its Anti-Cybercrime Group, are helping the Department of Information and Communications Technology trace organized crime syndicates using pre-registered SIM cards in their fraudulent activities.

Earlier, the House Committee on Appropriations called on the NTC to explain the matter during the budget hearing of the DITC.

“NTC officials cannot explain the matter which for us is very alarming since we are getting information from various open sources regarding the continued bulk sale of SIM cards in the country,” a top security official told the Journal Group on condition of anonymity.

The official said they also wonder why different social media sites continue to advertise the ‘bulk sale’ of new and used SIM Cards and Prepaid Phone Cards.

One site says a Filipino Smart and Globe SIM card can be bought for P40 or roughly $0.70 while a Dito SIM card can be sold for P49 or $.90 each.

Cherry Prepaid, GOMO, TM and TNT SIM cards are being sold for P29 to as much as P299 each or between $0.50 to $2.25.

High-tech SIM card copying machines might already been smuggled into the country by big-time syndicates engaged in online scams, unconfirmed reports said.

They point to the several Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs, which have turned out to be being used in massive online scams in the country where tens of thousands of registered SIM cards have been seized in recent raids.

Last August 2 alone, around 28,000 registered SIM cards were found in a raided POGO facility in Pasay City.

The recovery of the SIM cards, which were attempted to be dumped by operators of the raided Rivendell Global Gaming, Inc., came just a week after the July 25 deadline for the SIM registration.

“We suspect that these SIM cards are being used by the syndicates to stash money first here in the country and later abroad without being easily detected,” said one of the officials involved in the Pasay City raid.

The recovery of thousands of SIM cards inside raided POGO facilities where online frauds like the so-called ‘Love Scam’ are taking place is proof that they are being used for unlawful purposes.

PNP-ACG director Brigadier Gen. Sydney S. Hernia had said they expect a tendency to shift to social media hacking for illegal money-making ways as the use of unregistered SIMS would be pointless with the automatic deactivation of those which failed to register.

Early this year, a PNP-ACG operation in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan resulted in the arrest of a Taiwanese and his two associates for illegal possession of more than 7,000 registered SIM cards.