The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has expressed concern over the influx and sale of pre-registered SIM cards in Ghana.
It has described the situation as a National Security threat and has called on the mandated agencies to act swiftly to salvage the situation.
CPA has indicated that fraudsters are pre-registering SIM cards with details of unsuspecting ‘Ghana Card’ holders and sold on the open market.
A market survey CPA claimed to have conducted discovered sale points at Airport, Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Tip Toe Lane, where such SIM cards are sold between GH¢10 and GH¢20.
Chief Executive of CPA Kofi Kapito, addressing the media, urged the general public to desist purchasing these pre-registered SIM cards to help clamp down on the activities of the fraudsters.
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“For the purpose of evidence, I have 15 of such SIM cards in my custody; I activated 3 of the SIM cards and their identity was given by the telco companies,” he said.
“These are innocent Ghanaians amongst others who may not be aware their IDs have been used in registering SIM cards on the market that could be used for any criminal activity,” he added.
Kofi Kapito has called on the National Communication Authority (NCA) and the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation to consider the best options possible to curtail these criminal activities to enable the ongoing registration of SIM cards to be smooth and secure.
He underscored that consumers are still facing hardships in acquiring their National Identification Authority-issued cards to enable them to commit their bio details to validate their phone numbers.
This, according to him, has created a thriving black market where pre-registered SIM cards are being sold on the market despite the regulations given by the sector minister and the NCA.
Kofi Kapito thus indicated that CPA supports the re-registration of every SIM card in the country being linked to an identity and lauded Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful for considering the masses over the disconnection of unregistered SIM cards.
