Following directives by the federal government to GSM service providers to block unregistered phones without the National Identification Numbers, it has now been revealed that criminals, especially kidnappers have gone the extra step to connive with SIM card dealers to deceive new customers to give out their NIN which they use to link phones of criminals.
The plan is for the dealers to obtain the NIN of customers who had come for registration of their SIM card only to inform the customer that the registration was not successful. They then persuade the customer to take another line. If this succeeds, the SIM will be given to criminals who will pay a huge amount The Trumpet gathered.
The Trumpet, witnessed a scene in Lagos during the week when a customer threatened to call the police or report the dealer to the MTN office. They pleaded to be forgiven but the matter was eventually reported to some officials who have taken up the case. A senior Police officer who spoke to The Trumpet advised everyone to keep their NIN and BVN secret.
The Police advised Nigerians that after linking their NIN to SIM card, they must take note of the fact that they have become open to security agencies, further warning that people must safeguard their SIM cards more than their BVN and ATM PIN,
“If you compromise your BVN and your ATM PIN, your money may only be affected , but if you do the same to your phones and SIM cards , you may end up in prison.
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It is not advisable to help people register their SIM cards. Now that this new system has come, don’t help anybody to register their sim.
Be mindful of how you give people your phone to make calls or send texts. It’s a mobile phone, let it always be with you.
Don’t allow anybody to use your phone to login into an account on social media or use your phone to create anything.
Henceforth understand that your “SIM card”, is as important as your ATM card number, your BVN, or your ATM PIN.
This is because, you can be held responsible for what someone did with your SIM card, so be conscious” the Police officer warned.
