Helpless against 'junk SIM'?

Constantly harassing

According toDecree 49/2017/ND-CP dated April 24, 2017 of the Government regulating administrative sanctions in the fields of post and telecommunications, information technology and radio frequencies, then eachphone simWhen registering (signing a contract), it is mandatory to provide information on the individual's identity documents, including: full name; date of birth; nationality; number, date of issue, issuing authority or place of issue of identity documents; place of permanent residence registration (for Vietnamese citizens). In particular, there must be a photo of the person directly signing the contract according to the form and general transaction conditions (for mobile telecommunications services); a digital copy of the subscriber information confirmation or a subscriber information confirmation with an electronic signature (for prepaid mobile telecommunications services)...

In particular, from March 31, 2023, phone SIM cards with incorrect information (not the owner) will be deactivated; and by September 10, 2023, some network operators will stipulate that small retailers will not be allowed to sell SIM cards, but will require people who want to buy SIM cards to go to transaction points to buy and register...

Although the regulations are quite strict in preventing the problem of "junk SIMs", network operators have also provided hotline numbers for customers to report "junk SIMs" for handling. However, in reality, "junk SIMs" are still operating widely, causing great inconvenience to people using mobile services.

Ms. Nguyen Thu, residing in Vinh City, reported: Recently, her phone has continuously received disturbing messages, selling goods... from phone numbers such as: +84857638748; +84942586651; +84914479564... These phone numbers send messages continuously, regardless of the time of day, very annoying...

Not only Ms. Thu, but many people also reported being harassed by strange phone numbers sending messages with the same content as "providing call girl services"... with Facebook, Zalo or Telegram links. Just by accessing those links, users will lose access to the connection or have their Facebook or personal accounts taken over.

Many people even complained that they did not provide their phone numbers to any individual or organization, but for some reason, strange phone numbers kept texting and calling to harass them. Many people used "junk SIMs" to impersonate police representatives, law enforcement agencies, network operators, insurance company employees, post offices, telecommunications departments... to request investigation information or debt payment...

In fact, although there are regulations that small stores and agents are no longer allowed to sell SIM cards and cards. However, in reality, the buying and selling of SIM cards is still widespread. Especially on social networks or e-commerce sites, just typing the phrase "buy SIM" will bring up many stores that buy and sell SIM cards and numbers. From normal SIM cards and numbers to beautiful SIM cards and numbers. Many accounts even promise to register and activate them for customers...

In particular, although the regulation requires the use of personal identification documents to register for a mobile subscription, even requiring the recording and photography of the individual's face to register. However, many people still use fake documents to activate "junk SIMs". Specifically, after obtaining fake identification documents, the subjects will register to buy SIMs and use face editing software such as Deepfake to "bypass" the regulation of network operators to record and photograph the face when registering for a subscription.

In Nghe An, in July 2023, the Criminal Police Department (Nghe An Police) arrested two subjects Nguyen The Tuan (born in 1989) and Vo Trong Huy (born in 1988), both residing in Ha Tinh province, for the act of "Forging seals and documents of agencies and organizations; using fake seals or documents of agencies and organizations". Initially, the police determined: From May to July 2023, Tuan and Huy used fake ID cards to create bank accounts..., then sold them to other subjects. Through this incident, it can be seen that forging personal documents for bad subjects is no longer a difficult thing. Once fake documents are used for bad purposes, they will cause unpredictable consequences.

Need to deal with it decisively

Ms. Nguyen Nu Lan Oanh - Inspector of the Department of Information and Communications of Nghe An province said: Implementing the Prime Minister's direction on thoroughly handling the issue of SIM cards with pre-entered subscriber information, pre-activated services on the market, and strictly managing mobile telecommunications subscriber information; the Ministry of Information and Communications has issued a plan and directed the Department of Information and Communications to inspect compliance with the law on subscriber information management for branches of telecommunications enterprises, telecommunications service providers, and organizations/individuals registering a large number of SIM cards.

In Nghe An, an Inspection Team was established and conducted inspections at 33 service points of 4 telecommunications service providers in the area, including: Nghe An Telecommunications (VNPT), Military Telecommunications Group Branch (Viettel), Mobifone Nghe An Province (Mobifone) and Vietnamobile Telecommunications Joint Stock Company (Vietnamobile).

Through inspection, it was discovered that 2 units had service points with access devices but could not access centralized data; Some subscribers had subscriber information stored on the system not in accordance with regulations; 1 unit also had subscriber SIM cards with pre-entered subscriber information and pre-activated mobile services circulating on the market (Vietnamobile).

"Immediately after that, the Inspection Team imposed an administrative penalty on Vietnamobile Telecommunications Joint Stock Company for the act of "Selling and circulating on the market SIM cards with pre-entered subscriber information, pre-activating mobile services for SIM cards but not yet performing or completing the contract signing according to the form and general transaction conditions" as prescribed in Point b, Clause 7, Article 33 of Decree 15/2020/ND-CP with a fine of 30 million VND" - Ms. Nguyen Nu Lan Oanh added.

Ms. Le Thai Ha - Deputy Director of Business Center - VNPT Nghe An, the management unit of Vinaphone in Nghe An said: Since March, network operators, especially VNPT, have committed to working with the Government and the Ministry of Information and Communications to standardize subscriber information. We will block all subscribers whose data does not match the national population data so that customers can complete their information records. The subscribers who do not match will be blocked by April 30 and May 15. We also commit to complying with not having pre-activated SIMs on our sales channels. Through self-review, if we detect any sales channels that violate the law, we will be fined from 10 million VND to dismissal. Especially from September 10, the Ministry of Information and Communications has also requested all external channels (retail stores) to stop activating subscriber information, only VNPT transaction points are allowed to perform the activation.

It can be seen that the regulation of registering accurate personal information (full name, ID card/citizen identification card, date of issue and place of issue...) when registering and activating a phone SIM is a completely appropriate policy. This will help ensure synchronous connection of mobile subscriber information with the National Population Database, which will facilitate people when using telecommunications services in case of lost or damaged SIM, while protecting people's rights when using services on the national public service portal or non-telecommunications services such as: banking services, insurance services...

However, there are still many people who use "junk SIMs" for bad purposes, affecting social order. Therefore, to completely prevent this problem, some opinions suggest that people themselves should not provide their personal phone numbers to any individuals, organizations or applications that they do not know or do not trust. Users of telecommunications services also need to strictly comply with the law on subscriber information management. They need to proactively go to telecommunications service providers to register their own subscriber information, do not buy SIMs that have been registered and activated, to avoid legal risks when using SIMs that are not under their ownership.

In addition, it is necessary to strictly handle service providers that use software and information technology applications to falsify information, change ID numbers and citizen identification numbers on personal document photos, and then execute standard contracts (selling pre-activated SIM cards).

At the same time, it is also necessary to clarify the responsibility of mobile service providers when allowing the "junk SIM" problem to occur. After all, "junk SIM" needs to rely on the network platform to operate. If not strictly handled, people and users will not be able to escape the harassment.