Cybercrimes in the National Capital Region (NCR) are on the rise despite the SIM Registration Act, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said over the weekend.
Citing a report from the Philippine National Police, CICC said the cybercrimes in Metro Manila rose exponentially by 152 percent during the first half of the year, partly due to the carelessness of online users and the availability of malware online.
Data from NCRPO showed that the total number of cybercrimes reported to police from January to June 30 reached 6,250 up from 2,477 recorded during the same period last year.
Online scams during the same period almost tripled to 4,446 compared to 1,551 last year while illegal access reached 1,063, up 86 percent from 570 during the same period last year.
ATM and credit card fraud also rose during the first semester to 625 which is more than double the 241 cases reported during the same period last year.
Police Lt. Col. Jay D. Guillermo of the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit-NCR projected that the exponential growth of cybercrime will continue due to the availability of malware on the internet, ease of doing business of both private and government institutions, technological development, and careless online users.
CICC Division Chief Engineer Norman Ancheta (Cybercrime Monitoring and Public Complaints Coordination) said the group’s Inter-Agency Response Center has received 4,615 complaints from January 1 to June 15 this year.
IARC was established on December 27, 2022 following the implementation of the SIM (subscriber identity module) registration law.
“Despite the ongoing implementation of the SIM Registration Act, cybercrime and cybersecurity-related concerns of the public are on the uptrend,” Ancheta said.
IARC, which receives complaints through social media, website, and telephone hotline 1326, received a total of 3,609 complaints related to SIM registration and 904 cyber complaints from January 1 to June 15.
Most of the cyber complaints are related to online fraud (364), illegal access (192) and online libel (103). CICC Executive Director Alexander K. Ramos has emphasized: “The need for a single portal is necessary to allow the government to have a firm grasp of reality in fighting cybercrimes.”