Another police chief who doesn't understand the job

Ban text scammers from buying Sim cards without ID, says policing chief

And how does he plan to make that happen? Have all shop staff asking potential customers if they are scammers, then asking for ID when they answer in the affirmative?

Unfortunately the article is behind a paywall, but what this misguided supreme copper is asking, is for everybody to be made to give ID when buying a phone or sim card

Typical lazy policing. Make everyone jump through hoops in the hopes of preventing the odd crime so the police don't actually have to do much work

I once bought a ready to go PAYG phone off the shelf and was asked for my name and address, which I refused to give. The guy said he could not process the sale without it and I said there's nothing to process, I have cash and I don't need it delivered. In the end he managed to figure out a way

ID May have not been compulsory back then, but I've long been under the impression it has for some years, but I've bought all my phones on Ebay since

It's good to now know ID is not required, but it's bad to know a senior police officer is demanding it and newspapers are giving him the time of day

If he were to get his way, there's a million ways scammers could get round it and as per usual, it's only the consumer who will be inconvenienced while nothing else changes