The Uganda Communications Commission has dismissed an article circulating on social media of an alleged new fraud technique through which hackers can remotely hack people’s Sim cards and gain access to their phone data.
In a statement released by the telecommunications regulator, they said that such activities are not taking place due to technical limitations involved in the purported fraud. According to UCC, the fraudsters would need to have physical access to a victims sim card and also possess advanced technology to perform the sim card cloning.
The regulator also provided guidelines required for sim card swapping and replacement which include:
1. A customer seeking to acquire, upgrade or replace a SIM Card must physically appear and present his or her original National Identification Card to an operator’s designated customer care agent at a designated customer care centre or registration point.
2. The Operator must verify the authenticity of the National Identification Card using an Electronic Biometric Card Reader, match the applicant’s live biometrics with the biometrics on the card, and obtain real-time verification with the NIRA database through the API.
3. For the avoidance of doubt, where, for whatever reason, the operator is unable to conduct online real-time verification of the customer’s information with NIRA’s national ID database, the operator should not proceed with the issuance, upgrade or replacement of the SIM Card.
4. The Operator must obtain a fresh Photograph of the applicant.
5. The Operator must register the applicant for the SIM Card, and ensure that the applicant expressly gives authority to the Telecom Operator to access and match his or her details with the National identification database maintained by NIRA.
This, therefore, transfers liability to the operator if your SIM Card is Swapped or replaced without your authorisation. However, this is not to say that you should drop your guard.
If you are a victim of fraud, please report this to your telecommunication provider and if you feel the redress provided in inappropriate, contact the Uganda Communications Commission.
