SINGAPORE – 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 had 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 like WhatsApp to perpetrate scams.

Scam victims lost $651.8 million in 2023, with a record high of more 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.

The proposals in the Bill target three groups of offenders, including irresponsible registrants and errant retailers.

To deal with irresponsible registrants, it is proposed that it will be an offence for a person to hand over local SIM cards registered in his own name, or to allow his particulars to be used to sign up for a local SIM card by another person, if he believed the SIM card would be misused.

This includes selling or giving away the card for any gain, and giving one’s particulars to a stranger to sign up for SIM cards.

But those who have legitimate reasons, such as registering a SIM card for their family members, will not be liable. Those who were genuinely tricked into giving up their particulars would also not be liable.

Another proposed offence targets those who broker SIM cards for misuse.

It will be an offence for a person to receive, supply or possess local SIM cards that are registered using another person’s particulars, as well as unregistered SIM cards, if he has reason to believe the cards would be misused.

A person would be liable if he is found to have 11 or more of such SIM cards, or he has a SIM card that was previously used for crime.

For this offence, a person would again not be liable if he has legitimate reasons, such as being an employer who was holding on to SIM cards intended for employees.

The third proposed offence targets retailers who facilitate fraudulent registration of local SIM cards.

It is proposed that it will be an offence for a mobile service provider or retailer to register a local SIM card using any person’s particulars without that person’s authorisation, or knowing that the particulars are false or misleading, if they believe the cards would be misused or if the cards were later used in a crime.

In January 2024, an authorised dealer in mobile phones was fined a record $48,000 for exploiting customers’ personal data to register SIM cards without their knowledge or consent, before selling them.

The offence targeting irresponsible registrants will carry a fine of up to $10,000 and a jail term of up to three years.

The offences targeting the brokers and retailers of SIM cards for misuse will similarly carry a fine of up to $10,000 and a jail term of up to three years for a first offence, but a fine of up to $20,000 and a jail term of up to five years for a subsequent offence.

MHA said the offences will apply to corporations and unincorporated associations such as partnerships and societies. But as these entities are not able to be subject to imprisonment, the maximum fines for these entities will be doubled.

The Bill also proposes amendments to rectify smaller gaps in the law and unintended coverage.

It is currently a crime to transmit a message that is false or fabricated, but this also covers simulated phishing exercises that companies carry out to bolster their cyber security. The amendments rectify this.

Another part of the amendments is to enhance the police’s ability to apprehend people posing a safety risk to themselves and others, enable the police not to take further action in cases of non-arrestable offences under certain circumstances, and for certain enforcement officers who are not police officers to grant bail.

The final aspect of the Bill relates to Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG), proposing administrative amendments that will improve its operations.

It also proposes safeguarding YRSG’s symbols, making it an offence to misuse them, with offenders facing a fine of up to $10,000 and jail for up to six months.

MHA said this was because there have been instances where these symbols were misused, such as on merchandise that was sold for the seller’s own benefit under the guise of supporting former offenders.