Unregistered SIM will be deactivated on July 26th: Register yours now!
The Department of Information and Communications Techonology (DICT) says that the SIM registration deadline on July 25 will no longer be extended.
DICT Secretary John Ivan Uy on Friday has stated that unregistered SIMs will lose connectivity by July 26th at 12:01 am. Upon deactivation, a subscriber’s SIM will no longer be able to make calls, send texts, or use data.
If you haven’t signed up yet, you can hit up these official landing pages:
SMART – smart.com.ph/simreg or simreg.smart.com.ph
GLOBE – new.globe.com.ph/simreg
DITO – https://dito.ph/sim-registration
Missed the deadline? There’s a five-day grace period
For those who missed the deadline, don’t worry since there will be a grace period. A SIM card can be reactivated within five (5) days of automatic deactivation. This is in accordance with the implementing rules and regulations of the R.A. No. 11934, a.k.a. the SIM Registration Act.
Beyond that point, the corresponding telco company will permanently shut down the subscriber’s SIM.
Risk of phishing attacks intensifies as SIM reg deadline approaches
As the SIM registration deadline approaches “the risk of phishing attacks intensifies”, according to cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks.
Scammers often send text messages posing as legitimate sources, like telecommunications companies, urging recipients to register their SIM cards through clicking on a suspicious link. Users may unwittingly share their personal details with cybercriminals out of fear of deactivation.
With that, Palo Alto Networks provided a list of ways to protect oneself against phishing attacks:
(1) Be wary of links from unfamiliar sources. Avoid clicking suspicious links since they may lead to fraudulent websites. (2) Scrutinize links for anomalies and misspellings. Phishers use variations of genuine domain names to deceive users. (3) Research official SIM registration procedures to distinguish between genuine and phishing attempts. (4) Stay informed on security measures. Some providers proactively block links via SMS to combat phishing attacks. (5) Activate Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to provide an extra layer of security during this risk period.
SIM registration progress
According to a recent report from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), as of July 11, 61.21% or 102,842,017 have registered their SIM(s) out of the estimated 168 million total subscribers in the country.
The current figure consists: 48,691,635 subscribers from Smart, which makes up 73.44% of their total 66,304,761 subscribers (as of December 2022); Globe has 46,907,683 subscribers (54.07% of 86,746,672); while DITO has 7,242,699 subscribers (48.40% of 14,964,967).
