Nigeria’s telecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed tougher steps subscribers must take to replace lost, stolen or damaged Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.
According to Mrs Amina Shehu, NCC director, Zonal Operations, the stringent steps are meant to protect telecommunications consumers.
She noted that telecoms subscribers seeking to replace SIM cards must be properly identified through court affidavit, national identification card (or other valid IDs), SIM pack, among other requirements.
She revealed the new process was a result of review of previous steps and will ensure that telecom subscribers are well protected from being victims of SIM swap fraud.
She said: “There have been cases of fraudulent activities done on people’s bank accounts, as a result of SIM swap and the victims often complain to the commission, expecting that NCC will compensate them.
“To stop this SIM swap fraud, the commission in 2017 developed guidelines on SIM replacement, which sets water-tight rules for telecoms consumers to replace their SIM card when there is a need for it,” she said.
“But what telecoms consumers should know is that they must appreciate the fact that information being required from them is to establish that anybody coming for SIM swap proves that the number requested to be swapped belongs to him/her. Consumers should immediately report to their respective banks to block their accounts, once they lose SIMs linked with their bank accounts,” she said.
