BY GLENDA TAYONA, IME SORNITO and RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS
ILOILO City – Is the end near for prank calls and text scams now that the government has rolled out Republic Act 11934 or the SIM Registration Act?
“Dapat i-register ang tanan nga SIM (subscriber identity module) cards para ma-identify ang rightful owners sini kag hapos madakpan ang mga nagapanunto paagi sa mga prank calls kag scam text messages,” according to Pavia, Iloilo’s Sangguniang Bayan member JP Peñol who himself was recently victimized.
He described the new law as “long overdue.”
Last month, scammers namedropped Peñol to trick a batchoyan and a coffee shop in Pavia into “loading” certain mobile phone numbers and preparing 10 burgers and 10 sandwiches. The total cell phone load swindled reached P9,000.
“Sa aton mga negosyante, indi dayon magpati kon may mga orders especially if the orders are doubtful. Verify gid anay if the orders came from the real individual and not ‘posers’ or else your business will be compromised,” said Peñol.
Yesterday, Peñol became one of the first mobile phone subscribers to register their SIM cards. He found the process easy though he failed in his first attempt.
“Madali lang man ang pag-register. Nag-enter ako sang akon phone number then nag-send sila sang One-Time Password (OTP) sa akon number in order to verify. After sini, you are asked to enter your personal information such as your address and email if meron. A summary of the information you entered will appear on the screen of your phone for you to verify and confirm, and that’s it,” he said.
The Pavia SB member encouraged everyone to register. He stressed doing so will help the government minimize if not stop text scams and prank calls.
For Iloilo provincial administrator, Atty. Dennis Ventilacion who was also a scam victim, SIM card registration is a protection against conmen.
According to Ventilacion, he was informed by four friends that they received text messages from someone pretending to be him and soliciting for Christmas.
“They were very concerned kay ti unlikely man nga obrahon naton ina and kilala man nila kita. So gin-alert nila kita,” said Ventilacion.
With the SIM card registration, “I think malikawan naton ang pareho sini nga scam,” he said.
Iloilo City councilor Candice Magdalane Tupas, who chairs the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) committee on communications and public information, reiterated her support to the new national law.
“Ma-lessen na ang pag-usar maliciously sang mga cellphone numbers. Mabal-an na naton kon sin-o ang nagabutang sang mga threat sa aton. Maayo gid, importante gid nga may SIM Registration Act,” she said.
The lady councilor also urged the public to be proactive against rampant smishing and phishing – methods scammers use to trick individuals into giving them personal financial information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information./PN
