Sheena S.

Cabardo
2015
HRDM4-1

August 12,

National Telecommunications Commission urged to move vs sim-swap scam

By Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 11, 2015 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Grace Poe is urging the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)
to immediately address the so-called SIM-swap scam that has been reported by various individuals in
recent months.
Poe has filed a resolution calling on the NTC to take swift action against this new kind of scam, which
she said poses a serious threat on the banking and telecommunications industries, as well as the mobile
phone subscribers.
Phone scams like SIM swapping are becoming increasingly prevalent, thus there is a need to develop
new methods that would protect the public from such fraud, Poe said.
SIM swapping is a relatively new crime in the Philippines where the perpetrators claim to be legitimate
post-paid subscribers and request telecommunications companies to replace their SIM cards, which they
then use for fraudulent activities.
Based on the complaints that have been made involving the scam, the perpetrators steal online banking
information and other sensitive details of customers associated with their e-mail and social media
accounts, and even manage to illegally transfer bank funds through their mobile phones.
In her resolution, Poe said the NTC should move fast to combat SIM swap fraud and other cases of
mobile identity theft.
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The NTC must act swiftly on the SIM swap scam and cases of identity theft involving post-paid mobile
phone subscribers that jeopardize sensitive and confidential banking information and pose a threat to the
banking and telecommunications industry, for the purpose of protecting the public, Poe said.
Poe also asked the NTC to draft the necessary guidelines and impose penalties against the
telecommunications companies that expose personal information of its subscribers with the proper
authorization from the legitimate subscriber.
Telcos, specifically their agents, must be warned against sharing personal and confidential information
of customers to third party entities to prevent cases of identity fraud and unsolicited promotional
messages, she said.
Poe aired her concern about the vulnerability of mobile number authentication and the weakness of
telcos in verifying from legitimate post-paid subscribers if, indeed, they requested a SIM card

replacement or applies for a new phone lines, especially if the subscriber was not the one who made such
request.
http://www.philstar.com/business

Reaction about the article in relation with the Organization Development.

The article National Telecommunications Commission urged to move vs sim-swap scam

is a case wherein Organization Development should be talked about. Since, there is a problem
about making a swift action to quickly avoid or combat the fraud or the case about the said scam,
then there is a development needed for the system and individuals involved with regards to
protecting the public and theyre personal and confidential information. In addition, agents
should be more careful upon entertaining their valued customers and to get rid of third parties
through securing public safety of every client.
Organization Development is related to this topic because it is about helping the
organizations solve problems and achieve their goals. For instance, to be able to resolve the
problem of NTC, they need to adopt the definition of Organization Development by Richard
Beckhard which states that Organization development is an effort (1) planned, (2) organization
wide and (3) managed from the top to (4) increase organization effectiveness and health through
(5) planned interventions in the organization processes using behavioral science. In the case,
the intervention or the planned action would be what Poe said to NTC and that is to draft the
necessary guidelines and impose penalties against the telecommunication companies that expose
personal information of its subscriber, all for the purpose of protecting the public. Moreover, Poe
also asked telcos, specifically their agents that they must be warned against sharing personal
and confidential information to third party entities to prevent cases of identity fraud and
unsolicited promotional messages.
To sum up, every organizations or companies must have their knowledge and intellectual
skill in cases like the Telcos for fast development of every actions theyve done necessary to
avoid entering to a problem that would eventually destroy the dignity of the company and to
protect their customers from harmful incidents which can lead to suffer. More important, they
should apply approaches to strategic planning, leadership development, change management,
diversity and team building.