Four nabbed in GH¢200,000 SIM swap fraud, EOCO
SIM swap fraud involves changing mobile SIM cards
West Africa regional director of CUTS International, Appiah-Kusi Adomako has cautioned the Bank of Ghana over its delay in curbing the menace of SIM box fraud in the country.
The Consumer Unity and Trusts Society (CUTS) International stated that this poses a great threat to the country’s financial system and thus should be solved as soon as possible.
His comments come after the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) arrested four persons who have been engaged in SIM swap fraud.
The action was undertaken by the EOCO in collaboration with the Ghana Association of Banks
Speaking in an interview on AsaaseNews on Thursday (7 April), Appiah-Kusi Adomako stated that, “this is a big issue, it happened to a brother of mine who lost close to GHC 250,000 a couple of years ago.”
“And when the thing happened it was between the bank guys and telcos guys who managed to do those things, so I think this is a big security threat to our financial system.
“We have raised this issue for many years, and it still beats my imagination why the central bank has not taken any action on that,” Adomako said.
Background
The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has arrested four persons who have been engaged in SIM swap fraud.
The action was undertaken by the EOCO in collaboration with the Ghana Association of Banks.
According to hdfc.com, SIM swap fraud means changing mobile SIM cards.
If this is done without your knowledge, then it is probably done for some fraudulent activity.
Under SIM swap fraud, fraudsters get a new SIM card issued against your registered mobile number via the mobile service provider.
With the help of this new SIM, they can get One Time Password (OTP) and other alerts required to carry out financial transactions through your bank account.
Ransford Nana Addo Jnr, a representative of the Association of Banks, said the suspects were picked up at various locations in the country for colluding and illegally accessing the accounts of some Ghanaians from which they stole various amounts.
It emerged that they managed to withdraw an amount of about GH¢200,000 in their modus operandi before their cover was blown and subsequently apprehended by the security agency which was working closely with the banks.
SIM box fraud