SIM swap fraud: Two sentenced 12 months each to prison
The court held that the two accused persons were given a relatively lenient sentence since they had been in custody for a significant period of six (6) months
Two out of four persons who were standing trial for SIM swap fraud activities were in April convicted and sentenced by an Accra High Court to 12 months imprisonment.
Accused persons Linda Abakah and Solomon Ofosu were charged with the offence of conspiracy to steal, stealing, and money laundering after their arrest in 2022 by officials of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) in collaboration with the Ghana Association of Banks.
In addition, to their sentence, they've been ordered to pay a fine of two thousand (2000) penalty units each or in default, serve 24 months in prison.
The court held that the two accused persons were given a relatively lenient sentence since they had been in custody for a significant period of six (6) months and the fact that the bulk of the proceeds of the crime has not been accrued to them.
Two other accused persons, Derick Obeng, and Ezekiel Otoo who were at large at the time of sentencing, were however charged with same offences.
SIM Swap Fraud
EOCO explains SIM swap fraud occurs when fraudsters obtain a new SIM card from a person’s mobile service provider using the person’s registered phone number.
They can get One Time Passwords (OTPs) and other alerts required to conduct financial transactions through the person’s bank account with the help of this new SIM.
The banking sector fraud report released by the Bank of Ghana in 2020, stated that banks witnessed a marginal increase in reported fraud incidents with a minimal decrease in losses.
The reduction in losses was mainly due to a reduction in the rate of success for most fraud types.
A total case count of 2,670 cases was recorded in the year 2020, as compared to 2,311 cases in 2019.
The reported value of fraud for 2020 was GH¢1.0 billion, as compared to GH¢115.51 million recorded in 2019.
The notable increase in the value reported was a result of high values recorded in attempted correspondent banking fraud (forgery of SWIFT advice).
Even though the banking sector did not suffer any losses from any of the correspondent banking fraud attempts, it posed a reputational risk to some banks, whose staff were found culpable in two of the three reported incidents.
Losses incurred as a result of fraud for 2020 stand at GH¢25.40 million, as compared to an estimated loss of GH¢33.44 million in 2019, representing a 24.0% decrease.
