Crooks Rica havoc

06 November 2015 - 02:34 By Shaun Smillie and Graeme Hosken

A law designed to help law-enforcement agencies to track and monitor criminals through the creation of a cellphone database appears to be toothless. An investigation by The Times has found that Rica - the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act - is being flouted.Thousands of cellphone sim cards registered fraudulently in terms of Rica are on street corners and in phone shops across the country.For as little R6, and without proof of identity or residence, The Times was able to buy MTN, Vodacom and Cell C sim cards that had already been Rica-registered from a Johannesburg street trader.A second trader told the newspaper he had both registered and unregistered sim cards for sale.When told that the reporter had no identity documents available, he said it was not a problem. He sold a reporter a R20 MTN starter pack, which he said was already registered on the cellphone giant's Rica database.In Pretoria, The Times bought two Rica-compliant MTN sim card airtime and data starter packs without proof of identity or residence.A test of the sim cards showed they were Rica-registered and within minutes were ready to receive and make calls with.The investigation was undertaken as MTN has been fined R72-billion in Nigeria after failing to disconnect unregistered users.Although it is illegal to flout Rica regulations, South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority could not say how many (if any) people have been successfully prosecuted.Police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said those who contravened the legislation would be prosecuted. Anyone found guilty could be fined R60000 fine or sent to jail for 12 months.Forensic investigator Riana Smalberger said there were several ways vendors could obtain Rica-compliant sim cards fraudulently.One was through the use of insiders at mobile service providers. "They are very well organised. They use false identity documents and false addresses."Another way was through access to a Rica machine, which only licensed cellphone providers should have. During an investigation in the Johannesburg CBD they had recovered a Rica machine in a cellphone shop. Traders used it to activate cards using false IDs and addresses.Mobile operators used sub-contractors, who did not always exercise proper control over the machines, Smalberger said.A detective, who asked to remain anonymous, said that in theory Rica was a good crime-fighting tool. The problem was that often criminals used phones that they paid other people to Rica.Cellphone technology expert Danny Myburgh, of Cynare: The Computer Forensic Lab, said what was happening was alarming."This is taking the country backwards in terms of security. Rica was designed to assist police investigations and to bring the country in line with international e-commerce best practices."Rica assisted South Africans in doing trade with international companies, especially in online shopping. It is an assurance that they can trust our telecommunications systems [for] business."As with firearms registration, Rica was regulating the honest people, Myburgh said.Kalyani Pillay, SA Banking Risk Information Centre CEO, said Rica was important in fighting fraud: "If sim cards are not [registered] we won't be able to identify the person in the event that they are victims of identity theft."Vodacom spokesman Tshepo Ramodibeza said it had steps in place to avoid the pre-sale of Rica-compliant sim cards."But, we obviously can't police what happens to the resale of sim cards after the fact."If we get to know about such practices we remove the customers from our database."Cell C legal officer Graham Mackinnon said a sim card could not be activated unless it was registered.Graham de Vries, MTN chief corporate service officer, said the sale of Rica-registered cards was prohibited by law. If customers were sold such cards, the details relating to the sale must be reported to the police.If a customer gave or sold an activated sim card to anyone, other than a family member, Rica stipulated that the cellphone company must be immediately notified of the ownership change...

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