Mozambique's National Communications Institute (INCM), the sector's regulator, has announced that the country registers an average of more than 5,000 cases of fraud using cell phones every month.

According to the INCM, these are scams through which malicious people pose as bank account managers or parcel carriers, a practice in which the perpetrators lead the victim to access electronic money accounts operated via cell phones.

"Generally speaking, in the telecommunications sector in Mozambique alone, an average of 5,000 scams and frauds are reported every month that threaten the security of the telecommunications network," reads a statement released by the organization.

And in order to control the situation, the entity has started implementing new SIM card registration rules for subscribers to telecommunications services in Mozambique.

The new registration model does not allow cards to be registered with someone else's document and subscribers will now be required to provide biometric data, in this case fingerprints and facial recognition. "The use of biometrics is intended to make it easier to identify criminals."

In order to tighten up the control system, users of all mobile phone networks in the country have a deadline of one year to register their SIM cards in the biometric information database, otherwise, from 2025, subscribers who do not have their situation regularized risk having their cards blocked.

"Users of all mobile telephony networks in the country will be able to register their SIM cards on an optional basis until June 16, 2024, with registration becoming compulsory in the last six months of the current year. From 2025, subscribers who do not regularize their SIM card registration risk having their cards blocked," writes the INCM press release.