Nigeria: Experts Finger Insiders In Telecoms For Increasing SIM Swap Fraud



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By Ken Nwogbo

Cybersecurity experts have blamed telecom operators for the prevalence of SIM card swap fraud in the country, arguing that such fraud could be possible with an insider in the country. 39, the network operator of the intended subscriber. ] SIM card swapping is a sophisticated form of fraud and is part of social engineering. Fraudsters will distribute phishing emails, trying to collect as much personal information as possible from the victims.

How It Works

Your phone network will momentarily go to the blind without a signal or Zero Bars and after a while a call will come. The person on the other side will tell you that he calls Airtel, MTN, 9mobile or Glo depending on your network and that there is a problem on your mobile network. It will ask you to press 1 on your phone to get the network back.

If you press 1, the network will suddenly appear and almost immediately become Zero Bars again and by this action your phone is # HACKED. It will appear as if your line is without a network; Meanwhile, your SIM card has been SWAPPED. It is increasing day by day. In a moment, they will empty your bank account and cause you enough damage. The danger here is that one;

Responding to this Oluseyi Akindeinde, Technical Director, Digital Encode, said that the SIM card exchange is not new. "Many criminals have insiders in the telecommunications operator that allow them to do it, nothing can really be done to check it unless they catch up with guys in the phone companies," he said. said William Makatiani, general manager of Serianu. The exchange of SIM cards has become a lucrative business in Africa, particularly due to the increasing adoption of mobile money services and mobile authentication

"Attackers are collecting enough information about a target (identity numbers, phone numbers etc. With this information, attackers can contact the service provider and request the replacement of the SIM card and then start processing using your phone.

Tony Ojobo, director of public affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), acknowledged the existence of the SIM card Exchange the fraud and explain that it is a criminal act that falls under the agencies of Law enforcement. "SIM card swap fraud is a criminal matter.What NCC investigates and sanctions are problems of regulatory violation and problems that violate the terms of the law. s license operators. Just as if the banks identified their employees who collaborate with fraudsters to commit funds, these people are arrested and handed over to the police to prosecute and punish, "he said.

to fight against SIM fraud which includes: introduce additional checks for SIM reissue such as security issues, avoid answering unsolicited calls and text messages asking for information about your bank details.

Others introduce the l & # 39; Behavioral badysis of users for key indicators of compromise and alerting customers as well as adopting the IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) a unique number badociated with a specific GSM phone to ensure that the codes codes Punctual use are sent only to legitimate subscribers

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