A SIM Box syndicate operating in Tema Community 11 has been busted in an operation led by officials of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Ghana Revenue Authority, (GRA), KelniGVG and the Ghana Police Service.
The NCA in a statement said the team retrieved 11 SIM Box equipment with the capacity of using 352 SIM cards simultaneously, with other illicit equipment used for criminal activity.
A SIM box fraud enables the perpetrators to terminate international calls through local phone numbers which then appear as local calls. They bypass all international interconnect charges.
SIM Box fraud has become one area of cybercrime in the telecommunications sector in Ghana. About 2 million dollars in both revenue and taxes are lost monthly when each device operates at an average of 18 hours daily.
The statement by the NCA, said details will be provided after investigations are completed. The latest raid which took place on February 19, is the third since December 2019.
In a related development, a SIM Box fraudster arrested last month has been granted police enquiry bail, while operators of another SIM Box syndicate whose premises were shut down in December last year are on the run.
The Electronic Communications (Amendment) Act, 2009, Act 786 established the minimum rate for international incoming voice calls at 19 cents through the licensed international National Communications Authority.
The use of SIM Boxes to bypass the legal routes for terminating calls in Ghana is a criminal offence and penalties ranging from fines to terms of imprisonment.
