Nigeria: CBN, NCC to Tackle SIM Swap, USSD e-Payment Frauds

Director, Banking and Payment System Department, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, disclosed this, weekend, in Lagos at a bi-monthly forum of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria, FICAN.

Speaking on "Electronic payment industry performance and regulatory issues," Fatokun said the CBN is aware that fraudsters are exploiting the SIM swap process and USSD to defraud people, adding this would soon be a thing of the past.

He said: "Some of the fraud we are still battling with is the issue of SIM swap. We had an investigation recently and we discover that one particular fraudster, which we discovered through the help of NCC, has been using SIM swap and USSD to collect people's money and using the money to recharge his phone. We hope that before the end of the year the issue of SIM swap and USSD frauds would be a dead issue.

"We have heard of instances where people would say for three days my phone did not work. And because many of us carry more than one phone, if one is not working, at least one will work.

"So, what they do is that they swap your phone. That is, they just walk up to a service provider and claim to be the owner of the line. Most often, they have studied that number and they have collaborators, probably in the bank. Read more on All Africa.

Source: All Africa