Unregistered SIM cards to get 5-day grace period

MANILA  -All unregistered SIM (subscriber identity module) cards after the July 25 deadline for the mandatory listup will be unusable but a five-day grace period will be allotted should the holders want to reactivate them, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said.

Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy, on the sidelines of an event in Quezon City on Friday, said the government would follow the SIM registration law’s implementing rules and regulations providing for another five days to register after the deadline.

This, as he stressed that July 25 was already a “hard deadline” and no extension would be given again.

READ: DICT: No more SIM card registration extension

In terms of registration rate, the DICT chief said the rate was “within target of our goal” as nearly all the revenue-generating SIM cards—or those owned by active users buying mobile load credits and subscribing to post-paid plans—have already been listed.

Other unregistered SIM cards, he said, were probably just being used for text scams. “We don’t expect them to ever register,” Uy said.

With the deadline on Tuesday, July 25, Uy warned against cyberhackers having their last hurrah with the launch of text scams aimed at obtaining personal information of mobile users.

READ: DICT warns public vs new approach of text scammers

Having access to such data will allow perpetrators to take over online accounts. It can lead to financial losses on the part of the victims as hackers can siphon out money from bank or e-wallet accounts.

“Cybercriminals exploit SMS (short message service) messages to deceive unsuspecting victims into divulging sensitive information, such as one-time passwords (OTPs), which grant them unauthorized access to accounts,” cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks said. INQ