EOCO hunts for more suspects in GHC200k SIM swap fraud

The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), has hinted that it is on the heels of more suspects in the SIM swap fraud.

Four(4) suspects this week has been arrested by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) in collaboration with the Ghana Association of Banks.

Suspects according to MyNewsGh.com sources, were arrested at the Accra Mall and some locations at Assin Fosu in the Central Region.

The modus operandi of the cyber fraudsters was obtaining a new SIM card from unsuspecting persons’ mobile service provider using the person’s registered phone number. They can get Time Passwords (OTPs) and other alerts required to conduct financial transactions through the person’s bank account with the help of this new SIM.

Cyber intelligence by both bodies led to the arrest of the four who are currently being interrogated while efforts are underway to apprehend their accomplices with whom they manage to withdraw a total amount of GHC200,000.

A representative of the Association of Banks said these suspects illegally accessed the accounts of some Ghanaians from which they stole various amounts.

In 2020 the banking sector fraud report released by the Bank of Ghana 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 2,311cases in 2019.

The Reported value of fraud for 2020 was GH¢1.0 billion, as compared to GH¢115.51million 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.