Airtime voucher manufacturer Securi-Tech has added its voice to growing concerns about the use of unregistered SIM cards in extortion attempts in SA.
Police minister Senzo Mchunu recently disclosed that unregistered SIM cards were used in 62% of extortion cases investigated by the police.
This was in response to DA MP Kabelo Kgobisa-Ngcaba.
Securi-Tech said it was concerned about the lack of enforcement of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act, known as Rica.
Rica regulates how communications can be monitored and intercepted in SA, while working to prevent crime by making it harder for criminals to use cellphones for illegal activities.
Founded in 2003, Securi-Tech specialises in the manufacture of prepaid vouchers and scratch labels, as well as packaging and voucher management systems. The company says it has grown to become Southern Africa’s largest prepaid voucher manufacturer.
Securi-Tech noted that “there is currently a lack of data on the extent to which unregistered SIM cards are used in other serious crimes such as the planning of kidnapping and murder. This raises further concerns about the broader implications of non-compliance with Rica”,
The issue of unregistered SIM cards has made headlines in a number of countries, with Namibia and Ghana being two countries that have gone on drives recently to shut down such connections.
The company said it would be formally writing to the chair of the parliamentary portfolio committee on justice, Xola Nqola, to request a thorough examination of Rica’s enforcement and the loopholes allowing SIM cards to remain unregistered.
The organisation is also proposing the introduction of tamper-proof packaging for SIM cards.
In a related vein, others have been sounding the alarm around SIM swap fraud.
Gur Geva, founder and CEO of identity verification platform iiDENTIFii, says this is particularly relevant as telecommunications and banking industries become increasingly intertwined. Banks now offer mobile services, while mobile network operators provide financial services.
Geva suggested there is a convergence between the regulatory requirements of Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) and RICA.
“This shift has led to heightened identity theft risks, requiring mobile operators to adopt stringent identity verification practices inspired by the financial sector's standards.”
In 2022, ICASA attempted to address this, publishing draft regulations that would require mobile network operators to collect subscriber biometric data.
At the time, the regulator said the rules would reduce instances of mobile number hijacking via fraudulent SIM swaps and number porting. However, this was met by hesitance from consumers and organisations like Communications Risk Information Centre (COMRiC).
Consumers feared that the collection of biometric data would compromise their privacy, while COMRiC felt that biometrics as a single solution was too limited in its scope and challenging to implement at scale.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.