ARPCE Dismantles Sixth SIM Box Fraud Network in Brazzaville

The Regulatory Agency for Posts and Electronic Communications (ARPCE)  of the Republic of Congo has dismantled another SIM box fraud network in Brazzaville, bringing the number of similar operations carried out by the regulator since the beginning of the year to six.

The operation was conducted on August 21 in the Massengo (Domaine) neighbourhood of Brazzaville by sworn ARPCE officers, supported by security forces. Authorities seized two 16-port SIM boxes, a D-Link modem, a laptop and an automatic battery-recharging system.

Investigators also recovered 30 Ugandan telephone numbers that were identified as being used fraudulently. Two people were arrested as part of the investigation.

According to Benjamin Mouandza, Director of Electronic Communications Networks and Services at ARPCE, the network caused an estimated financial loss of about CFA42 million over two months. More than 422,000 minutes of calls were reportedly diverted through the operation.

The fraudsters allegedly used Ugandan SIM cards operating through roaming services to reroute international calls as local calls. This enabled them to bypass international call termination charges payable to the state and telecommunications operators.

The latest operation is the second SIM box network dismantled in Massengo. An earlier operation in May at the Congo Chine site, together with a separate operation at the Coraf site in Pointe-Noire, resulted in an estimated combined loss of CFA136 million.

ARPCE warned that the sale and use of unregistered SIM cards continues to facilitate telecommunications fraud and urged the public to report suspected fraudulent activities to the regulator.

Under Congo’s Law No. 9 of November 25, 2009, telecommunications fraud of this nature can attract penalties of up to five years in prison and fines of as much as CFA1 billion.