Network of Communication
Reporters (NCR) is calling on the National Communications Authority (NCA) to
completely remove all telco agents from the ongoing SIM registration process to
prevent any more incidents of fraudulent SIM registration.
This call comes after the
NCA explained that some unscrupulous telco agents had circumvented the process
on two legs leading to many incidents of fraudulent SIM registration and
putting telcos at risk of being sanctioned.
Fraudulent SIM
registration is a situation where all kinds of SIM cards are being linked to
people’s Ghana Cards without the consent of the Ghana Cards owners.
NCR observed that there
have been several reports of some individuals having as many as 18 SIM cards
linked to a single Ghana Card without their consent, which is a worrying trend,
particularly because the ongoing SIM was meant to correct similar ills in the
existing SIM registers.
In terms of the root
cause of the fraud, NCR has taken note of the NCA’s explanation as follows:
1. That when an
individual links their SIM card to a Ghana Card using *404#, the National
Identification Authority (NIA) issues them with a unique nine-character
alphanumeric confirmation code that establishes ownership of the Ghana Card.
Then when that individual goes to an agent to complete the process at Stage 2
(bio-capture), the agent then copies that code and begins to use to link other
SIM cards to that person’s Ghana Card on his blind side.
2. That telcos asked
permission from NCA for their agents, who don’t have smartphones, to be allowed
to use the old (legacy) system to continue to register and activate completely
new SIM cards, with a proviso that once that is done, the SIM cards will then
be taken through the current process for proper registration but that regime
has been abused by the telcos and their agents, hence the millions of SIM cards
which have not completed SIM registration.
3. That most of the
fraudulently registered SIM cards are numbers in close succession of each
other, which indicates that they were done by easily identifiable agents and
the telcos were fully aware but kept mute until it was exposed in the news.
NCR has taken note of the
NCA’s decision to therefore abolish the Stage 1 of the SIM Registration on May
31, 2023, to eliminate the issuing of a unique code that agents use to register
SIM cards fraudulent. The process will be limited to the use of the App to
limit and possibly eliminate all avenues for any breaches.
“Whereas we support the
NCA’s decision to abolish Stage 1, we think that is not enough because the
breach at Stage 1 was perpetrated by telco agents and there are agents still
participating in SIM registration as of today, even though NCA cannot
independently vouch for their integrity.
“Given that no security
system is full-proof we strongly suggest that all telcos agents should be
entirely excluded from the ongoing SIM registration to forestall any more
incidents of fraudulent SIM registration,” NCR said.
According to NCR, such a
decision will leave the work to only telco staff and thereby make it easier to
trace any breaches to the respective staff, adding that it will also help the
telcos to avoid being sanctioned for the fraudulent conduct of their agents.
NCR has also taken note
of the assurance from the NCA that the Ghana Cards used in the fraudulent SIM
registrations have not been compromised because the perpetrators were unable to
use those details to complete registration in the App.
As a result, a lot of the
6.1 million SIM cards recently deactivated and the 11 million to be deactivated
on May 31, 2023 are made of up fraudulently registered SIM cards.
NCR is confident that
post the deactivation of those SIM cards and the subsequent audit of the SIM
registers of the respective telcos, Ghana will be heading towards creating a
clean, secure, verifiable and robust central SIM register as required by law -
Executive Instrument 63.
“We therefore urge all
Ghanaians to keep using the short code - *402*1# - to keep checking and
reporting any strange numbers to the respective telcos (not agents) to help
clean the SIM registers,” the statement said. “We also expect the telcos to
cooperate with the NCA in the audit of the SIM registers as we look forward to
the NCA’s guidance on how to establish ownership of Ghana Cards post the
elimination of Stage 1 from the process.”
SIGNED BY:
Charles Benoni Okine
Dean
Samuel Dowuona
Vice Dean/Spokesperson
Date: May 8, 2023
