The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Sylvia Owusu-Ankomah, has stressed that protecting personal identification numbers and improving consumer awareness are essential steps in tackling mobile-related fraud in the country.
According to her, most of the fraud cases currently recorded in Ghana are largely driven by social engineering schemes, where fraudsters impersonate trusted individuals or institutions to trick unsuspecting victims into revealing confidential information, including personal identification numbers used for mobile financial transactions.
Speaking in an interview with Citi Business News, Ms Owusu-Ankomah explained that while SIM registration plays an important role in strengthening accountability within the telecommunications sector, it cannot completely eliminate fraud.
She noted that fraudsters often rely on deception rather than technical loopholes, making consumer vigilance a critical line of defence.
“SIM registration is not going to be a silver bullet that stops fraud. The nature of fraud that we are currently experiencing as a country is mostly based on social engineering schemes where individuals pretend to be someone else and try to obtain sensitive information,” she explained.
She emphasised that safeguarding personal identification numbers is one of the most effective ways to prevent fraudulent activities.
“Your PIN is sacred. To the extent that you protect your PIN, there shouldn’t be room for someone to defraud you,” she added.
Her remarks come as the government prepares to undertake another nationwide SIM registration exercise after Cabinet approved plans to review the existing regulatory framework governing subscriber registration.
The planned exercise will mark the country’s third major SIM registration effort and is expected to introduce revisions aimed at strengthening the current system.
Ms Owusu-Ankomah explained that biometric linking of SIM cards to the national identification database helps ensure that users can be traced if a number is used for criminal activities.
According to her, the system makes it easier to hold individuals accountable for crimes committed using registered phone numbers.
She also advised subscribers to avoid purchasing pre-registered SIM cards and to ensure that any SIM card they use is properly registered in their own name.
“If you purchase a SIM card that was registered by someone else and you use it without registering it in your name, any criminal activity carried out with that number could still be traced back to you,” she warned.
Meanwhile, some mobile phone users are calling on the government to ensure that the upcoming SIM re-registration exercise effectively addresses the persistent problem of mobile money fraud.
They argue that although previous nationwide SIM registration drives were introduced to reduce fraud on telecom networks, cases of mobile money scams and other cyber-related crimes continue to be reported, leading to financial losses for many users across the country.
