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DICT: P1B worth of money, crypto found in confiscated registered SIMs

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Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- An estimated P1 billion worth of money and cryptocurrencies were discovered linked to SIM cards confiscated in various raids by security authorities in just less than two months, an official said on Wednesday.Among the biggest raids was the one in Pasay City where over 25,000 SIM cards were confiscated from an alleged Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) facility, DICT Sec. Ivan John Uy revealed during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/08/17/23/millions-of-cash-pre-registered-sim-cards-seized-in-pogo-hub">Authorities seize millions of pesos in cash, pre-registered SIM cards in vaults of raided POGO hub in Pasay City</a></li></ul>The Department of Justice earlier said these SIM cards were believed to be used in online scams.Uy said the registered SIM cards and the linked e-wallets are the likely depository of money stolen from various scams by criminal syndicates.“Access namin e-wallets, nakita namin bakit itong SIM card may P50,000, sinaksak yung isang SIM card, bakit may P100,000 itong SIM card na ito,” said Uy.He added that text scams still exist despite the SIM registration law because many consumers sell their registered SIM and some register using fake IDs. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/22/23/fraudsters-use-pre-registered-sims-to-scam-people-cicc">Fraudsters turn to pre-registered SIMs to scam people: CICC</a></li></ul>DICT now plans to &quot;cleanse&quot; the list of registered SIMs.“In the next few months, we will be cleaning up those records together with the telcos. Ang importante diyan identified na natin ano techniques na gamit nila.”(What&#x27;s important is we identify the techniques that they use.)He revealed he is now studying proposals to limit the number of registered SIM per user or impose a fee to register a 3rd or 4th SIM per individual. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/05/23/dict-eyes-capping-number-of-sims-individuals-can-own">DICT eyes capping number of SIMs individuals can own</a></li></ul>This, as DICT also warned the public that some scammers are moving to other platforms including Messenger and Viber.Scam Watch Pilipinas convenor Jocel de Guzman urged the public to always be alert and be wary of suspicious acts online whether text or even emails. He also urged the public to report to the government hotline 1326.“Magdamot. Huwag basta basta mamimigay ng pera. Magduda. Huwag basta basta maniniwala at huwag basta basta mag tiwala. Mang-snub. Pag di kilala, huwag pansinin. At pinaka importante, magsumbong. Magsumbong sa 1326,” said de Guzman.(Be stingy. Don&#x27;t give away money so easily. Be doubtful and don&#x27;t wuickly trust other people. Snub suspicious complaints. ANd report unscrupulous individuals to hotline 1326.)

An estimated P1 billion worth of money and cryptocurrencies were discovered linked to SIM cards confiscated from recent raids. 

DICT: P1B worth of money, crypto found in confiscated registered SIMs

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DICT: P1B worth of money, crypto found in confiscated registered SIMs

Jekki Pascual,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 13, 2023 01:57 PM PHT

Read More:

cryptocurrency

sim cards

finance

fintech

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