{"id":855309,"date":"2026-04-27T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=855309"},"modified":"2026-04-26T18:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:15:48","slug":"warning-to-anyone-with-a-smartphone-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/telecommunications\/855309\/warning-to-anyone-with-a-smartphone-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning to anyone with a smartphone in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>South Africa loses R5.3 billion every year to telecommunications fraud, with nearly 60% of that linked to mobile banking fraud driven by SIM swaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;SIM swap fraud is the enabler that the criminals use to intercept a one-time password (OTP) to take over a social media account,&#8221; former Vodacom Chief Risk Officer Johan van Graan <a href=\"https:\/\/iono.fm\/e\/1660843\">told<\/a> Moneyweb Radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The actual fraud is by accessing the internet banking where they have previously phished this PIN (personal identification number) and password of a customer, sending WhatsApp messages to say I need money.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Van Graan said the actual fraud takes place outside the telecoms network, when fraudsters log in to banking applications and social media platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said that South Africans often share PINs and passwords, which helps criminals access personal information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The current RICA Act (Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information), which applies to telecom networks, makes it difficult to authenticate the true customer or owner of a phone number during a SIM swap request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I propose facial recognition because it works in the banking sector for FICA (Financial Intelligence Centre Act). Then, when a SIM swap does take place, the networks must use that facial recognition to validate the SIM swap,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Rica Act, which has been effective since the second half of 2005, is a law that aims to regulate the interception of communications by requiring the registration of all SIM cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The act requires that SIM card users provide proof of identity and proof of residential address when purchasing a SIM card to use for mobile services, which allows law enforcement to trace users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The RICA Act requires people purchasing a SIM card to provide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Full names and ID number<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A certified copy of ID document<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Proof of residence (not older than three months)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Concerns over online privacy and safety<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-41.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-41-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-856130\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-41-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-41-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-41-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-41-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-41.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Van Graan highlighted several problems with the Rica process. He said the issue at hand is that the Rica Act has two main components. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The interception aspect, according to van Graan, is likely among the world&#8217;s top five most stringent, especially after recent changes affecting journalists and lawyers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, he said the customer registration process ranks among the bottom five globally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the act, when a customer approaches a RICA agent, the agent checks the presented ID, matches it to the customer&#8217;s face, and manually records the name, ID number or passport number, and address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;There\u2019s no validation of the information. No copy of the IDs is kept. None of that information is kept,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For postpaid customers, networks can conduct credit vetting to gather additional information and have the ability to use facial or biometric recognition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the significant challenge is that 80% of South African customers use prepaid services, which means there is no reliable validation process during a SIM swap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The networks have the technology to enforce it, so pre-RICA SIMs will stop. Also, because the biometrics is needed at time of SIM swap, it will definitely, I would say 99% reduce SIM swap fraud,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Van Graan said the issue lies with the regulator. When South Africa was placed on the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) grey list, this was one of the highlighted concerns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He attended a meeting with the former Minister of Justice, Ronald Lamola, where he requested that the networks develop a solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The networks have complied by proposing a solution to the government through the Electronic Communications Act (ECA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I just think the logjam is that it\u2019s lying somewhere in the legislative change process. It\u2019s not important enough, or there aren\u2019t people who can rewrite the act.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The networks could embrace the change, as it should help minimise the washing machine effect, which sees around 60% of prepaid SIM cards being recycled every year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa loses R5.3 billion every year to telecommunications fraud, with nearly 60% of that linked to mobile banking fraud driven by SIM swaps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":856129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[6220,25146,449],"class_list":["post-855309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-telecommunications","tag-biometrics","tag-rica-act","tag-sim-cards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855309"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":856134,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855309\/revisions\/856134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}