A TOTAL of 12,896 SIM cards were deactivated in the past three months on suspicions of being used in fraudulent messaging involving questionable online transactions.

Dr Jabiri Bakari, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) director general, issued this datum at a briefing on the sector’s performance in Dar es Salaam yesterday. 

He cited a 19 percent decrease in attempted frauds using phone lines, with SIM cards cancelled dropping from 16,002 from July to September 2024 to 12,896 from October to December 2024, a diminution of over three thousand SIM cards.

Regions with higher numbers of deactivated simcards as of late last year were Rukwa (5,305), Morogoro (4,278), Mbeya (930), Dar es Salaam (765), Katavi (281), Arusha (260), Songwe (150), Mwanza (132) and Tabora (122), he stated.

The quarterly report indicated an increase in attempted frauds by six percent on Halotel, 12percent on TTCL, and 52 percent on Airtel, while fraud attempts on the rebranded Yas and Vodacom decreased by 75percent and nine percent respectively. 

Few incidents were reported for Zanzibar, specifically with Pemba North (1), Pemba South (2), Unguja Urban West (1.5), Unguja North (5), and Unguja South (5).

Stressing that secure and responsible use of mobile systems is vital for sustainable growth and improvement in living standards, the regulator vowed vigilant monitoring to identify fraudulent calls, especially those coming from outside the country.

TCRA had taken appropriate measures enabling that have led to a decrease in reported incidents, reflecting the government's commitment to combating cybercrimes, he stated.

He praised Communication and Information Technology minister Jerry Silaa and his Home Affairs counterpart Hamad Masauni for organizing a stakeholders meeting towards the end of the year.

The meeting was attended by top officials from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), media executives and CEOs of mobile money service providers, who exchanged ideas on ways to combat frauds exploiting the use of Simcards, he said.

TCRA has been working to ensure that stolen, lost or damaged phones are not being used, as well as phones that do not meet proper standards or are counterfeit, he said.

“Our efforts also include identifying and deactivating duplicate international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) numbers associated with fraudulent activities. An online entry specifies that IMEI is a numeric identifier, usually unique, for 3GPP and iDEN mobile phones, as well as some satellite equipment, 

TCRA would pursue its public education efforts on safe mobile phone usage to protect users from online scammers, he said, reiterated the importance of vigilance.

The public need to report suspicious messages or calls, as phone numbers associated with fraudsters can be reported to 15040 via SMS, a toll service. Sanctions or other regulatory measures will be applied based on such reports, he added.