Did you know one of the reasons the NCC made a policy that “Welcome Back” (SIM swap) must be done at a brick and mortar outlet?

Let me share one of the biggest fraud schemes that bad actors have used SIM swap for.

A few days ago, I was having a casual conversation with my childhood friend about our businesses and we unintentionally stumbled upon a topic that intersects both of our career paths (SIM swap), since we both worked for a telecommunications company at one time in our lives. It is interesting to see how SIM swap has affected various industries in this country, especially fintechs, and it got me thinking about the kind of breed Nigerians are.

For example, a fraudster who has a close relationship with a SIM swap agent (operating under the umbrella 🤣 or roadside) also has a connection within a bank. He uses that connection to obtain a list of bank accounts that are infrequently used but have healthy balances. All he needs is the phone number associated with each account, which he can even decide to filter to only one network. Then, on a quiet Saturday, he asks the agent to perform the "Welcome Back" process, putting him in possession of the victim’s SIM card.

Meanwhile, the SIM owner simply thinks, "Normal-Normal, this network people don start again. Make I wait for network to come back to my phone." With the SIM in hand, the fraudster moves to the next phase: he asks his bank contact to raise the account’s transaction limit. Once the limit is increased, he can transfer and withdraw funds at will, since the bank uses the customer’s phone number as the primary means of verification.

Another twist is that the fraudster might bypass banks altogether and decide to exploit the fintech platforms. Many fintechs have built solutions intended to make life easier that link a customer’s bank account solely through the phone number registered with the bank and require an OTP for confirmation. After linking the account, you can guess what comes next… a full scale withdrawal party.

I guess you are worried now, right? This is one of the reasons the NCC must enforce that SIM swap (Welcome Back) can only be done at authorised brick and mortar locations.

In other news, did you hear about the armed robber nicknamed “Godogodo”? He was arrested and confessed to buying close to 100 SIM cards from roadside vendors. He never used the same SIM for more than one call to cover his tracks. Listen to his confession here https://youtu.be/xZNx1hsnpCQ?t=595.

Do you now recall the regulation limiting the number of phone numbers you can register to a single NIN? That is another reason for it.

To everyone reading this, take your lessons. Sometimes technology created to solve problems ends up causing new ones that regulations must fix with yet more technology. Wahala! 🤣