Telecom
SIM Swap Fraud Threatens Mobile Money Plan
The rising incidence of Subscribers Identification Module swap fraud in the country has become a major concern for stakeholders in the financial and telecommunication industry.
Telecoms subscribers are also concerned that the same manner in which airtime is lost on the mobile devices will play out when mobile financial services are handled by network operators.
Others who have experienced the fraudulent act alleged that insiders working with telecommunication companies are culpable in the act as network signal suddenly disappears before the victim’s bank account is wiped out.
Economic Confidential reported that Omoniyi Johnson, an engineer based in Lagos, who was once a victim of SIM swap fraud in which his personal information was used in requesting for a new SIM card by a fraudster.
He said over N200,000 was stolen from his bank account before he realised what happened.
According to him, network signal disappeared from his phone which persisted despite rebooting his mobile device.
“Initially, I thought my phone had developed some fault, but after taking it to technician the following day, it was discovered that my SIM card was faulty. On getting to the operators’ customer care centre, I found out that someone else requested for a new SIM with my number and had stolen my savings,” he explained.
Due to the many complaints of financial fraud from SIM swap, the NCC, in 2017, had introduced new requirements for replacing a lost or damaged SIM card.
The commission asked telecoms operators to request for court affidavit, national identification card, SIM pack among others as new requirements for replacing a lost SIM card.
Despite this intervention, the challenge persists.
Mrs. Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, NCC, at the inauguration of newly elected executives of Industry Consumer Advisory Forum in December said the commission had received lots of complaints on how fraudsters were using mobile numbers to steal from bank accounts.
She was quoted as saying, “Though the money is not in their custody, we are not exonerating the telecom operators until we conclude our investigations. We believe there may be a connivance of telecom staff in all these crimes. Why should a subscriber’s line go off at the time fraud is about to be committed on their accounts?”
Speaking on the issue, Segun Akano, managing director, Upperlink Limited advised Nigerians not to entertain any fear that the involvement of telecommunication companies in mobile financial services would increase SIM swap fraud.
According to him, biometrics is an effective way of reducing exposure of customers’ information and curbing financial fraud.
He said, “If mobile money is working elsewhere and we are able to surmount the safety fear, we can as well do it better in Nigeria. I don’t think we should be scared that the fraudsters will take advantage of this. It is just a wakeup call to all the telcos to have their security intact on all their platforms.
“Not only do we have the benefit of Biometrics Verification Number, it is an added advantage for Nigeria when other countries running mobile money right now don’t have the facility that we call BVN.
“It can do a lot to reduce the vulnerability level of our platforms, knowing full well that if anybody does anything and you are caught, the system is closed against you.
“The agency banking is meant to reach the unbanked and all the agencies banking under the SANEF project have access to verify identity through BVN if they want or have a way to verify the identity of customers.”
Already, he said there were measures in place to ensure that transactions on a newly obtained SIM card did not exceed N20,000 on the first day.
He said, “If you transfer N20,000 and by the second day, the owner does not lodge a complaint, you will be allowed to do more, with that the perpetrators will not gain much and they can also be caught.
The motivation is not there because they are all being encumbered by the policies.”
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on financial fraud in Abuja, the Adebayo Shittu, minister of Communications, said the incidence of financial fraud using telecom platforms had become pervasive.
He added that the act had led to direct financial loss in the financial services sector, e-commerce, and telecommunications.
He said, “As a fall out of technological advancement, knowledge has increased and control has become even more complex, creating gaps which are being exploited by miscreants and nefarious individuals always looking to beat the system.”
Meanwhile, Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria, said discussions were ongoing with the telecoms operators, the Central Bank of Nigeria and other stakeholders to ensure adequate safety measures to protect customers were in place.
Pan African Towers (PAT), a Nigerian infrastructure provider serving 9mobile and Spectranet, has appointed Echezona Osi as chief executive officer.
Echezona Osi
Adefolarin Ogunsanya, company’s, board chairman, explained in a statement that Osi would succeed Oladipo Badru, whose tenure lasted nine months in acting CEO position. Osi has more than 28 years of experience in the telecommunications sector across various regions of Africa.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, he had served as the head of network deployment at Airtel Nigeria, operations director and chief technical information officer at MIC Tanzania, chief technology officer roles at IPT PowerTech Nigeria, Rhino Niger Networks and Biswal Nigeria.
He obtained a degree in electrical/ electronic engineering from the University of Benin and a postgraduate diploma in data science and business analytics from the University of Texas.
Companies sending bulk international text messages, also known as Application-to-Person (A2P) messages, will now have apply for a licence that costs N10 million.
This is part of new rules introduced by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) aimed at cleaning up the system, fighting fraud, blocking spam messages and stopping money from leaving the country unchecked.
These A2P messages are the kind customers get from banks, online stores, hospitals and political campaigns, automated texts sent from apps to their phones.
According to the commission, the bulk international text message system has been poorly regulated, allowing misuse and invasion of privacy.
“The International SMS Service Ecosystem in Nigeria has not been fully brought under regulatory control. It has been observed that the excessive use of the Short Message Service has led to fraud, spam and illegal activities,” the NCC said.
The regulator warned that without action, the problem would worsen as more people use mobile phones and digital services.
To solve this, the NCC is creating a central platform, or gateway, through which all international bulk text messages must pass through.
The agency said this would help to monitor messages in real time, ensure proper fees are paid, and make sure the money stays in Nigeria where it can contribute to the economy.
As part of the incoming change, service providers must follow strict rules, including strong data protection, spam filters, and message encryption.
Also, they must also work with local mobile networks and make sure all messages come from a verified sender
The NCC warned that any message without a proper sender ID will be blocked and not delivered to users.
To protect users from unwanted texts, the new rules say companies must get clear permission before sending any promotional content.
The rule also says people must also be able to choose whether they want to receive such messages or not.
Companies are now required to keep records of all messages for at least six months and must clearly state all charges involved.
The NCC said fees for help requests, cancellations, or service info must be transparent and not include hidden charges.
The commission will issue licences to several providers to encourage healthy competition but may limit new licences if needed.
Only companies that show they can stop fraud and safely deliver messages will be allowed to operate. They must also regularly report their message traffic and finances to the NCC.
It warned that any company that breaks the rules risks getting fined, suspended, or having its licence revoked.
Offences like charging illegal tariffs, ignoring security rules, or avoiding taxes will be punished, the NCC said.
The commission added that the new rules follow the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023 and support the federal government’s goal of strengthening cybersecurity and controlling Nigeria’s digital space.
The framework will also be reviewed from time to time to keep up with new technology and market trends.
MTN Nigeria has launched what it claims is the country’s largest prefabricated modular data centre, marking a bold push into the country’s fast-growing cloud market and taking aim at global giants such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.
The shift comes as demand for cloud services in Nigeria soars — driven by the uptake of mobile apps, fintech tools and e-learning platforms — while foreign providers have become costlier in the wake of the naira’s sharp devaluation.
“This is one of the biggest data centres in West Africa and probably one of the biggest in Africa,” said Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria.
He described the new Tier III-certified facility, with locally hosted cloud services, as “transformative for the technology ecosystem in Nigeria and very supportive of the federal government’s agenda”.
MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecoms provider, has so far invested $120m in the first phase, delivering an IT load of 4.5MW. A second phase, set to double capacity to 9MW, is budgeted at $135m.
“We already have data centres that are running our existing capacities,” Toriola said.
“We will go to 9MW in short order, possibly 14MW, and we can expand even further.”
He said the facility would allow local hosting for tech developers, large enterprises including banks and oil companies, and government agencies — markets long dominated by foreign cloud providers.
“Multinational companies such as Netflix, Facebook and Instagram can also host a lot of their data here. That improves the quality of service and reduces the cost of storage,” he added.
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