Forty-eight individuals involved SIM card fraud arrested in South Africa

Daniel Puchert

Daniel Puchert

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SIM card cartel kingpins nailed in South Africa

The Communication Risk Information Centre (COMRiC) has assisted in arresting individuals involved in a major SIM card fraud operation in Gauteng and the Free State.

Forty-eight suspects were arrested, 45 in Johannesburg and 3 in Bloemfontein, all of whom are foreign nationals.
 
COMRiC CEO Thokozani Mvelase believes that the machines indicate criminal activity.
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So there is no evidence of criminal activity, why were they arrested?

Having stolen SIM cards in circulation also hinders law enforcement’s efforts to track and apprehend criminals.
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I think I can count on half a hand the number of times they actually done this.

If a cellphone is present during a crime, the police cannot use any RICA information of identified cellphone numbers to help track down suspects.
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I cant recall hearing of a perp been arrested with the help of RICA.
 
RICA does not require any verification of the information with third-party systems like the Home Affairs database.
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This (NB. Not just verification that the details are on HA, but also verification that the person providing the details is who they claim to be). Wonder if FICA has the same problem...
 
G.A.S said:
This (NB. Not just verification that the details are on HA, but also verification that the person providing the details is who they claim to be). Wonder if FICA has the same problem...
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The problem is that the RICA system has to accommodate foreigner's documents as well as South Africans, so presumably any old number can be entered because there's no way the system could verify the passport number of a foreigner.
 
deweyzeph said:
The problem is that the RICA system has to accommodate foreigner's documents as well as South Africans, so presumably any old number can be entered because there's no way the system could verify the passport number of a foreigner.
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You can buy a preRICA'd sim from your local Pakistani spaza shop, already activated and a number assigned.

RICA is as useful as tits on a mule.
 
And how many work for the cell providers or if not them their family and friend circles.

Inside jobs mostly.
 
IamNoone said:
You can buy a preRICA'd sim from your local Pakistani spaza shop, already activated and a number assigned.

RICA is as useful as tits on a mule.
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Why do the US and the UK, 2 of the most paranoid security states in the western world not have a system like Rica for prepaid sim cards? Probably because they realised the futility of it before wasting good money on trying to implement it.
 
deweyzeph said:
Why do the US and the UK, 2 of the most paranoid security states in the western world not have a system like Rica for prepaid sim cards? Probably because they realised the futility of it before wasting good money on trying to implement it.
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Exactly.

You can walk into any store and buy a prepaid "burner" phone without needing to register with your details.
 
deweyzeph said:
So basically this article has just confirmed how pointless RICA is.
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"Hello Capitec Phising dept. I got a call from your "Fraud Department" from number 079 207 1995. Dude tried to phish me to change my account password. Go after him!"
"Sorry dear Capitec Client, we can't; the number is linked to a person who's identity was spoofed when the number as RICA'd. You did well by letting us know!"
 
LCBXX said:
"Hello Capitec Phising dept. I got a call from your "Fraud Department" from number 079 207 1995. Dude tried to phish me to change my account password. Go after him!"
"Sorry dear Capitec Client, we can't; the number is linked to a person who's identity was spoofed when the number as RICA'd. You did well by letting us know!"
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You can't even get a straight answer from the banks under the FICA regulations, nevermind RICA. They seem unable to trace any bank accounts when people are scammed.
 
deweyzeph said:
You can't even get a straight answer from the banks under the FICA regulations, nevermind RICA. They seem unable to trace any bank accounts when people are scammed.
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Lots of governance and regulatory compliance is just box-ticking. RICA/FICA shows that it is exactly that.
 
IamNoone said:
You can buy a preRICA'd sim from your local Pakistani spaza shop, already activated and a number assigned.

RICA is as useful as tits on a mule.
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R5 for Telkom. R10 MTN.

The paki guy near me hates Vodacom for some reason and doesn't stock those. My name on my old MTN sim is Daude Msalae or something like that - sounds like a foreign African name.
 
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