A Taiwanese man and two Filipinos were arrested in a coordinated operation by the Philippine National Police – Anti Cybercrime Group in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.
According to PNP-ACG spokesperson Police Capt Michelle Sabino, by virtue of a search warrant, they searched a house in Francisco Homes, Barangay Narra, last night and arrested the Taiwanese man, his Filipino wife and her brother.
They launched the operation after receiving a complaint.
According to Sabino, the main modus operandi of those arrested is buying and selling registered SIM cards to potential scammers.
He added that those arrested had about 7,000 SIM cards that were being used and sold.
Sabino insisted that the suspects usually sell the SIM cards to those living in the province who need money.
The PNP-ACG warned the sellers of registered SIM cards that they are responsible if they are used in illegal activities.
“Ang problema hindi niyo nare-realize kayong mga nagbebenta ng SIM card na registered ay halos binebenta niyo na rin yung identity niyo because once the cops would start doing the money trail it would lead to you since ikaw ang nakapangalan sa simcard – ito ang reason why ACG is grabe pagbabantay sa mga nag beneta ng simcard,” said Sabino.
Confiscated from the suspects were 13 cellphones, 3 iPADs, 2 system units, 332 SIM Cards with SIM beds, 6,976 assorted SIM cards and various documents and IDs.
Taiwanese, 2 Filipinos arrested for allegedly selling registered SIM cards
Those arrested may be charged with violation of Republic Act 8484 or the Access Device Regulation Act in relation to Section 6 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
As of May, the national Social Weather survey of March 26-29, 2023, found that 56% of adult Filipino SIM card owners had registered their SIM cards while 44% have yet to do so.
Among those who registered, 72% considered the SIM card registration process to be very/somewhat easy, and 28% considered it somewhat/very hard.
The March 2023 survey found that 73% of adult Filipino own at least one cell phone. Among them, 94% own one cell phone, 5% own two cell phones, and 1% own three to four cell phones.
Among those who had registered their SIM cards, 72% considered the process to be easy (consisting of 44% very easy and 28% somewhat easy), while 28% considered the process to be hard (22% somewhat hard, 6% very hard).
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