Moldovan parliament adopts measures to prevent phone scams, electronic communications fraud

Prepaid SIM cards may be activated only after the user has been identified based on an identity document. At the same time, calls originating outside the territory of Moldova that display numbers from the National Numbering Plan will be subject to additional verification, marking, or blocking measures, in accordance with the requirements approved by the National Agency for Regulation in Communications.

The parliament has adopted a draft law amending the Electronic Communications Law. For the second reading, the draft law was merged with a legislative initiative prepared by a group of MPs from the Our Party parliamentary faction, aimed at preventing phone scams and fraud through electronic communications.

The draft law establishes the obligation of mobile electronic communications services providers to identify users, including in the case of prepaid SIM cards. Citizens of Moldova will provide the information contained in their identity documents – their first name, surname, and IDNP. Foreign citizens will be required to present an identity document issued by their country of origin and the provider will retain a copy of the document, in compliance with personal data protection legislation.

Users may be identified through more methods: at points of sale, online, by means of a mobile signature or through other digital identification tools. Until the process is completed, the SIM card may be used only for essential services, such as calls to the 112 emergency service and access to the identification portal.

The data collected during the identification process will be retained for the entire period of service use and for an additional 12 months after the service ends, in order to facilitate the identification of users in the event of potential investigations.

Activating prepaid services without identifying the user will be punishable by a fine of up to 3,000 lei for an individual holding a responsible position. In the case of a legal entity, the fine may reach 15,000 lei.

Administrative penalties are also provided for public network and service providers that fail to implement technical measures to detect and block calls originating outside the territory of Moldova that display numbers from the National Numbering Plan. In this case, the fine may reach 15,000 lei for a legal entity and 9,000 lei for an individual holding a responsible position.

The document also provides penalties for using equipment meant for the unauthorized substitution of the calling line identifier, including the unauthorized use of SIM cards, eSIM profiles, SIM box equipment, GSM gateways or other similar technical means. The fine for this violation may reach 4,500 lei for individuals, 9,000 lei for individuals holding responsible positions and 15,000 lei for legal entities.

The new legislative provisions will enter into force on the date of their publication in the Official Journal. The obligation to identify users of prepaid mobile communications services when activating new numbers will apply as of March 1, 2027. Those using prepaid SIM cards activated from September 1, 2026, will be identified by June 1, 2027. The remaining users will be subject to identification by August 31, 2027.

According to statistics data, almost 1.6 million prepaid SIM cards are active in Moldova, accounting for 42.7 per cent of all mobile connections. Authorities say that the anonymity provided by these cards is frequently exploited for fraud, scams and false calls. In 2025 alone, 1,190 false bomb alerts and abusive calls to emergency services were registered, and due to difficulties in identifying the perpetrators, only one in 29 cases reached court.

In addition, over the past five years, financial scams and phishing campaigns, including the scheme known as the relative involved in an accident, have caused estimated losses of up to 100 million lei. According to the authorities, such fraud is often facilitated by fake accounts created on such platforms as Viber, WhatsApp, and Telegram, using anonymous phone numbers.

Prepaid SIM cards are also used in smuggling activities at the border, including for the remote control of drones through mobile networks. In such cases, identifying the operators is often difficult. Over the past five years, 129 incidents of this type have been documented.

 

Directorate of Communication and Public Relations of Moldova’s Parliament