Tougher laws proposed to curb criminal misuse of SIM cards

Those targeted include errant retailers and those who give away SIM cards, particulars

- David Sun

Tougher laws targeting those who enable the misuse of SIM cards have been proposed after such cases quadrupled in just two years.

The Law Enforcement and Other Matters Bill was read for the first time in Parliament on March 7, and proposed allowing the police to take stronger action against those who enable the misuse of local SIM cards for criminal activity.

The number of local mobile lines involved in scams and other cybercrimes jumped from 5,867 in 2021 to 23,519 in 2023. The amount lost in such cases almost tripled, from $137 million in 2021 to $384 million in 2023.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the police face difficulties in prosecuting those who give away their SIM cards or provide their particulars to others to be used to sign up for SIM cards.

Such individuals, who have been dubbed "irresponsible registrants" by MHA, typically claim ignorance.

The authorities are unable to prosecute them, as current laws require the police to prove that these irresponsible registrants knowingly given away their SIM cards for unlawful purposes, or knew that their SIM cards would be used for criminal activity.

MHA added that scammers have been using local mobile lines to receive scam monies via digital payment system PayNow, and have used such lines to set up messaging accounts on platforms WhatsApp to perpetrate scams.

Scam victims lost $651.8 million in 2023, with a record high of more like than 46,000 cases reported.

Local mobile lines have also been used in other crimes, with 1,329 such lines used in unlicensed moneylending in 2023.