Users of mobile phones have been made aware of the fraudulent practices of certain individuals during SIM card registration by the Mobile Money Advocacy Group Ghana (MOMAG).
MOMAG claims that its dedication to safeguarding its clients has made this public warning necessary.
It has come to our attention that certain unscrupulous agents are blindly registering SIM cards for unwary individuals. These agents will register two cards, claiming that network difficulties prevented the first one from being successful. MOMAG claimed in a statement dated May 9, 2024, “They keep the other cards covertly and use them later for fraudulent activities or sometimes sell them at exorbitant prices to people without Ghana Cards.”
It’s interesting to note that over 90% of the victims are female. Once more, some of our Ghanaian women who make friends with foreign men are persuaded to register SIM cards using their Ghana Cards. The SIM Cards will thereafter be used by some of these men to carry out more fraud, MOMAG continued.
The advocacy group claims, “We have been in contact with the National Communications Authority (NCA) over this matter since 2023, but as of yet, no action has been made. We respectfully request that the NCA stop this threat and take the appropriate measures to safeguard the public. We think this will stop or lessen these kinds of fraudulent actions.
“If necessary, we are happy to give the NCA samples of phone numbers that some of these scammers have utilized. In order to address this issue head-on, MOMAG stated that the authorities should move quickly to begin a public awareness campaign in print and electronic media (including radio and television) encouraging people to avoid using their Ghana cards to purchase SIM cards for others.
Additionally, the committee recommended that “if the public is informed during the registration process that their SIM card is damaged or has gone bad, they should be educated to collect it from the agents.” Additionally, we are warning these malicious Agents, who are assisting the fraudsters by pre-registering SIM cards or registering SIMs and selling them to them. We implore these Agents to cease these actions right away. We would report such bad agents to the police so they may face the full force of the law, should the association come into possession of them.
