By Daniel Tyokua
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has sensitised Keffi traders against falling prey to fraudsters through telecom platforms.
The Executive vice chairman of the commission, Professor Umar Danbatta during the sensitisation on Wednesday at Kasuwar Rusau market square, said NCC was keen on protecting telecom consumers, and would continue to do its best.
Danbatta, who was represented by Mr Clement Omife, head, consumer protection advocacy unit of the commission, said that the awareness was to promote initiatives that will empower telecom consumers with knowledge and advocate for their protection within the industry
The sensitization tagged: “Shine Your Eye, No Fall Mugu”. noted that the fraud in telecom platforms was worrisome and needed to be tackled.
He said that the menace, which follows wide acceptance of new methods of mobile money, electronic banking and payment systems has been discovered to cost the country whopping sums of money.
According to him, a lot of people were highly ignorant to how losing their phones to fraudsters can lead to a complete clean-up of their bank accounts.
“These fraudsters do this by stealing victims’ identities; name, address, bank information, which they use in gaining access to their bank accounts.
“They also use the stolen identity to defraud other people and even apply for loans, leaving the victim with debts.”
He revealed that, as the telecom industry evolves, there is a growing concem over the rising trend of fraud on telecom (electronic fraud) across sectors of the Nigerian economy.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rates electronic fraud as the biggest risk in the sector which has widely incorporated electronic payment solutions such as Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBBS) Instant Payment and mobile banking.
“The telecommunications sector is not also spared in the raging storm stoked by cyber fraudsters across the country.
“Attackers are now targeting telecos networks with the intent to disrupt service delivery and infiltrate their data bank SIM swaps and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).
“USSD e-payment frauds, are currently some of the senous cyber threats in the telecom industry. Fraudsters conduct SIM swaps of individuals and then, conduct USSD-based transactions which cost victims huge losses.”
He informed that the Commission also collaborated with critical stakeholders such as the CBN, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and other relevant in the fight against e-banking fraudsters.
In an interview at the sensitisation, the chairman, Keffi Traders Association, Musa Yakubu called on the traders to abide by the guidelines provided by NCC, which he said would curb financial fraud and the strategies to tackle them.
“We appreciate NCC for coming to enlighten our people on how to manage our money.
“I have mandated my members to be here to be able to learn how not to fall victim of financial fraud,” he said.
