Fourth SIM Box and international call syndicate busted by NCA

The Accra Regional Police together with the National Communications Authority (NCA) and Kelni GVG have intercepted the operations of an International Voice Call Refilling business, an illegal phenomenon similar to SIM-boxing.

The criminal activities of the fraudsters were uncovered and officials raided the site where the operations were taking place on Thursday, November 26, 2020 at a location off the Spintex Road in Accra, the NCA said on Friday, December 4.

The regulator said the equipment used in terminating international calls as local calls which included routers, switches, servers, laptops and monitors amongst others, were confiscated by the authorities.

This would be the fourth time the NCA has clamped down on such activities in 2020.

Earlier, the NCA said it had received a complaint from AirtelTigo that some of their numbers were being used to carry out international call refilling fraud and further investigations by the joint NCA/Kelni GVG/Ghana Police team confirmed the illegal operations at the said location.

This led to a search following which the set-up comprising the equipment mentioned earlier was discovered and confiscated.

An individual suspected to be overseeing the illegal activity has since been arrested and will be arraigned before a court to assist in investigations.

Previous arrests

A similar illegal operation (SIM Box) at Anloga in the Kumasi Metropolis was uncovered on November 7, 2020, by the Ashanti Regional Police together with the representatives from the NCA and Kelni GVG.

One suspect was arrested and SIM Box equipment, mobile phones, laptops, internet routers, over 200 used and unused SIM cards and a money transfer receipt suspected to be proceeds from the illegal operations were seized.

The suspect has since been granted bail.

In January and February this year, arrests were made at the Premier Towers in Accra and Tema Community 11 respectively, following routine SIM Box monitoring by the Anti-fraud Team.

Similarly, SIM Box equipment and hundreds of SIM cards were confiscated. The suspects have been arraigned before the Accra High Court.

What is SIM Box Fraud?

According to Inside Telecom, a website for telecommunication articles, SIM box fraud involves the illegal setting up of international calls using a low-cost, prepaid, SIM card, which is part of a larger fraudulent business known as GSM termination.

It is common knowledge that international call tariffs are more expensive than calls from within the network. A SIM box fraud system enables fraudsters to earn money based on the difference between local and international tariffs.

SIM Box fraud occurs when fraudsters team up with international entities to route international calls through the internet using VoIP and terminate those calls through a local phone to make it seem as though the call made, was local.

Box operators are therefore able to bypass international rates to fraudulently undercut the prices charged by the Mobile Network Operators (MNO) and avoid surtax charged by the government.

In an article titled, SIM Box Fraud – A Growing Concern, Inside Telecom said SIM Box Fraud has been recognized by the telecoms industry as the toughest fraud problem operators currently face.

Operators spend around $51 million a year on bypass fraud management solutions, with operators frequently identifying and blocking large numbers of SIM Boxes, yet the problem seems to persist across the world.

This fraudulent activity contributes substantially to a loss of revenue.

SIM Box operators cause the decline of call and service quality, which prevents operators from meeting service level agreements for mobile hubbing traffic.