House of Reps sets up committee to investigate SIM card swap fraud

 

EMMANUEL OGWU | reliablesourceng.com

The House of Representatives Thursday resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to conduct an investigative hearing into the increasing incidents of SIM card swap fraud in the country.

The resolution followed a motion by Hon. Ifeanyichukwu Anthony Ibezi, member representing Idemili North and South Federal Constituency, urging the House to conduct an investigative hearing on the emerging trend with a view to “determining ways that banks and telecommunications operators can collaborate to devise measures to combat the menace.”

Presenting the motion, which was supported by Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, member representing Owan Federal Constituency, Hon. Ibezi recalled that in 2012, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had introduced the cashless policy, an initiative which reduced the amount of physical cash involved in business transaction and encouraged the use of electronic platforms for payment of goods and services.

He noted that despite the numerous advantages of electronic transactions, some drawbacks are manifesting in the form of Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) swap fraud.

According to him, this occurs when a fraudster steals someone’s personal information, mainly from the Internet and uses it to request for a new SIM card from the victim’s network provider, effectively cloning that person’s identity.

“As soon as the network provider issues the new SIM card with the same number of the person whose identity was stolen, that person’s network signal will disappear from his original line which he would still have in his possession.

“As the confused victim will be battling to restore his or her line, the fraudster will immediately set to work by diverting any incoming SMS and completing the text-based two-factor authentication checks that protects the owner’s most sensitive accounts in financial services, social networks, webmail services and instant messages.

“This type of fraud is now used to steal money from people’s bank accounts and simulate emergencies to solicit money from victims’ contacts,” Hon. Ibezi explained.

He recalled the pathetic story of one Sawari Bolanle, a young mother who was a victim of this new fraud as reported by The Guardian of July 1, 2019.

The committee has six weeks to report back to the house for further legislative action.

It will be recalled that this is the second motion of Hon. Ibezi that has been adopted since the 9th National Assembly was inaugurated on June 11, 2019.