South Korea’s telecom ministry said Wednesday it would seek a law revision to slap fines of up to 100 million won ($96,300) on those using mobile phones under borrowed names, a practice used to conduct crimes and illegal activities while evading investigation.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it hopes to establish legal grounds by June to punish any activities related to using or inducing, advertising and mediating the use of such “pirate” phones, with possible penalties also including a prison term of up to three years.

The current law only focuses on those who lend their names in return for compensation or steal others’ identities, not on activities related to using pirate phones.

The revision would allow authorities to crack down on cases in which a cellphone service was opened legally but was lent out to someone else.

Pirate phones are widely used in crimes to thwart investigators in tracking down suspects. They are also used in sending spam or in smishing scams. (Yonhap)