Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) has implored consumers in Nakonde District in Muchinga Province to shun buying pre-registered sim cards.
ZICTA Compliance Officer, Anderson Situmbeko, warns that it is an offence according to the laws of Zambia under the Cyber Security and Crimes Act of 2021.
Speaking in an interview in Nakonde, Mr Situmbeko disclosed that they are in the district to conduct training and awareness campaigns to sim card registration agents.
“We have observed an increase in digital financial fraud which has been caused by pre-registered sim cards. These are sim cards that criminals are using to defraud the members of the public”, he said.
He also urged consumers to report any messages from strange numbers that use false pretences asking them to send money.
“When consumers receive those messages that are fraud related where people are asking them to send money to certain numbers, or claiming they have won a competition let them report those numbers they are receiving messages from using the short code *707#”, he said.
Mr. Situmbeko cautioned that suspicious phone numbers will be deactivated in order to curb cyber related crimes.
Meanwhile, one of the sim card dealers, Kelvin Silwimba, bemoaned that most traders resort to selling pre-registered sim cards because they do not gain much profit from selling unregistered sim cards.
Mr. Silwimba further appealed to authorities in charge of sim cards distribution to revise their terms and conditions for sim card re-sellers.
“Do not just apprehend people anyhow. Take time to find out what is causing them to sell pre-registered sim cards. We also feel we have been neglected by the mobile service providers who have given us unreasonable targets”, he said.
Can you begin to be relevant? Our bundles still expire on us and you can’t do anything. May be somebody needs to be fired that’s when you’ll up your game. We’re tired of shoddy services as if there’s no regulator