Prime
Shs41b lost in SIM card fraud, pyramid schemes
Network devices. A display of telecommunication SIM cards. Shs41b lost in SIM card fraud, pyramid schemes. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Frozen. Police have only been able to freeze Shs756m on the suspects’ bank accounts and arrested three suspects who were charged and remanded.
- Ms Grace Akullo, the director of Criminal Investigations, said they were only able to freeze Shs756m on the suspects’ bank accounts, and arrested three suspects who were charged and remanded.
Ugandans lost more than Shs41 billion to criminals through pyramid schemes and other cybercrimes such as swapping SIM cards and hacking digital financial accounts last year, the Annual Crime and Road Safety Report of 2019, indicates.
At least 2,925 victims lost Shs30b through two pyramid schemes; Dunamis Coins Resources Limited, and Global Crypto currencies pyramid scheme.
Ms Grace Akullo, the director of Criminal Investigations, said they were only able to freeze Shs756m on the suspects’ bank accounts, and arrested three suspects who were charged and remanded.
The suspects include Ms Mary Nabunya and Mr Simon Lwanga.
The two companies were operating in Kampala and closed as soon as police discovered the fraud.
Ms Akullo said Dunamis Coin Resources Limited managers promised their clients a 40 per cent interest in deposits every after 21 working days.
“Initially, the depositors would receive the promised 40 per cent interest on their deposits. By November 2019, the company increased interest to 50 per cent on each deposit. By December 2, the company closed shop and the directors disappeared with the depositor’s money,” she said.
Ms Akullo also said 25 other cases against the suspects are still under inquiry.
Criminals under Global Crypto currencies pyramid used the same trick to defraud their clients of Shs10b.
Victims lost Shs11.4b in cybercrimes, especially swapping of SIM cards, but only Shs51.8m was recovered.
Criminals also used fraudulent SIM card swapping and registration to steal funds from unsuspecting victims.
“In total, 519 SIM cards were fraudulently swapped (duplicated to make two lines with same number to work at the same time) pre-registered SIM cards were used to transfer and steal money from various banks and mobile money accounts,” she said.
In one case that was investigated last year, Beyonic Limited Systems lost Shs2.6 billion when their system was hacked and money from their mobile phone systems was transferred to 83 different mobile phone accounts. The money was withdrawn. Police discovered that the criminals had illegally registered the mobile phone numbers of people without their knowledge.
In another case committed around March and April last year, Shs802m was stolen by criminals who fraudulently transferred that money to 112 different MTN mobile numbers.
The owners of the phone numbers were unaware about the crime.
Ms Akullo said criminals gained access to accounts of victims in dfcu Bank and Centenary Bank.
The criminals stole Shs438m from dfcu Bank and Shs800m from Centenary Bank. In both incidents, the money was transferred to mobile money accounts.
