Cryptocurrency scams are on the rise: How crypto cons work and how to protect yourself

Cryptocurrency scams are on the rise: How crypto cons work and how to protect yourself

The digital gold rush is here. As more people attempt to make money from cryptocurrencies, criminals and con artists aren’t far behind. Make sure you know how to recognise the biggest schemes that want to part you from your digital coins says Carey van Vlaanderen, CEO of ESET South Africa.

The world seems to have gone ‘crypto-mad’. Digital currencies like bitcoin, Monero, Ethereum, and even Dogecoin, are all over the internet. Their soaring value promises big wins for investors (if you’re “buying the dip”, that is). And the ‘fortunes’ to be made by mining for virtual money have echoes of gold rushes that formed the first mining towns in South Africa back in the 1800s. Or at least, that’s what many, including a long list of scammers, will have you believe.

In reality, if you’re interested in cryptocurrency today, you’re quite possibly at a major risk for fraud. In many respects, in this new unregulated world, bad actors often have the upper hand. In 2021, South African-based Africrypt was reportedly hacked, effectively wiping out a staggering R51 billion of investors’ money. While the apparent hack made global headlines, the founders of Africrypt vanished as international investigators scrambled to piece together what happened in what is now suspected to be a completely fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform.

The good news is that normal rules of fraud prevention apply too.  Everything you read online should be carefully scrutinized and fact-checked. Don’t believe the hype, or buy into something that seems too good to be true, and you’ll stand a great chance of staying safe.

Why are cryptocurrency scams on the rise?

Fraudsters are masters at using current events and buzzy trends to trick their victims. And they don’t come much more “zeitgeist-y” than cryptocurrency. Headlines and social media posts are partly to blame, creating a feedback loop that only adds to the hysteria over virtual currencies.

  • There are few if any regulations governing the cryptocurrency market for investors, versus the traditional stock market
  • Huge media interest makes it a regular hook for phishing and scams
  • Soaring cryptocurrency prices attract consumers dreaming of getting rich quick
  • Social media helps to amplify the buzz, real or fictional
  • There’s also the lure of mining coins for money which phishers can use as a hook

What are the most common cryptocurrency scams?

If you have virtual money safely stored in a cryptocurrency exchange, it may be at risk from hackers. On numerous occasions threat actors have successfully managed to extract funds from these businesses, sometimes making off with hundreds of millions. However, usually the breached companies will promise to recompense their blameless customers. Unfortunately, there are no such assurances for the victims of crypto fraud. Fall for a scam and you may be out-of-pocket for a lot of money.

It pays to understand what these scams look like. Here are some of the most common:

Ponzi schemes: This is a type of investment scam where victims are tricked into investing in a non-existent company or a “get rich quick scheme,” which in fact is doing nothing but lining the pocket of the fraudster. Cryptocurrency is ideal for thisas fraudsters are always inventing new, unspecified ‘cutting edge’ technology to attract investors and generate larger virtual profits.Falsifying the data is easy when the currency is virtual anyway.

Pump and dump: Scammers encourage investors to buy shares in little-known cryptocurrency companies, based on false information. The share price subsequently rises and the fraudster sells their own shares, making a tidy profit and leaving the victim with worthless stocks or coins.

Fake celebrity endorsements: Scammers hijack celebrity social media accounts or create fake ones, and encourage followers to invest in fake schemes like the ones above. In one ploy, some $2m was lost to scammers who even name-dropped Elon Musk into a Bitcoin address in order to make the ruse more trustworthy.

Fake and copycat exchanges: Fraudsters send emails or post social media messages promising access to virtual cash stored in cryptocurrency exchanges. The only catch is the user must usually pay a small fee first. The exchange doesn’t exist and their money is lost forever. Copycat sites offer what appears to be legitimate wallet services. Users are encouraged to download wallets which then install malware on the user’s device. In these instances, iOS devices have been compromised where in the past the problem was limited to Android.

Impostor apps: Cybercriminals spoof legitimate cryptocurrency apps and upload them to app stores. If you install one it could steal your personal and financial details or implant malware on your device. Others may trick users into paying for non-existent services, or try to steal logins for your cryptocurrency wallet.

Phishing: Phishing is one of the most popular ways fraudsters operate. Emails, texts and social media messages are spoofed to appear as if sent from a legitimate, trusted source with an urgent request for payment in cryptocurrency.

How you can avoid falling victim

The best weapon to fight fraud is a healthy dose of scepticism. With that in mind, try the following to avoid getting scammed:

  • Never provide your personal details to an entity that makes unsolicited contact with you, via email, text, or social media. It may even appear to be your friend, but in reality could be a hacker who has hijacked their email or social account. Check with them separately via another contact method
  • If something is too good to be true it usually is. Take any investment scheme with a heavy pinch of salt
  • Switch on two-factor authentication for any cryptocurrency account you have
  • Dismiss any investment ‘opportunity’ which requires an up-front payment
  • Never use unofficial app stores
  • Download anti-malware software from a reputable provider to your PC and mobile devices

The world may have gone cryptocurrency-crazy. But you don’t need to join in. Keep a cool head and ride out the hype while making good returns

Why the cloud numbers don’t add up

Why the cloud numbers don’t add up

Cloud is a hot topic, with seemingly everyone making the change to cloud. But the numbers don’t add up. What’s happening behind the scenes?

In a recent survey by large-scale tech learning platform O’Reilly, 90% of respondents said their organisations are using cloud, and 30% said they’re fully cloud native. This makes it clear why ‘cloud’ is the buzzword on every IT leader’s lips. Seemingly, if you’re not getting on the cloud, you’re getting left behind.

But other insights reveal that the numbers just don’t add up. Cloud spend still accounts for just 6% of total IT spend, according to tech analyst IDC. And, while global cloud spend surged in the first quarter of 2021, the numbers dipped by 1.9% in Q2 – the first decline after seven quarters of spending growth since 2019.

The reasons

IDC proposes the dip in spending is due to the need for new infrastructure as a result of the pandemic. That may be the case, but it doesn’t explain why total cloud spend remains a small sliver of total IT spend – despite indicators of rapid growth and large-scale adoption, says Andrew Cruise, CEO of Routed.

“It could also be that cloud is, quite simply, cool. For years, decision makers have been told to go big on cloud or risk losing out to competitors. And while this is certainly true, the money doesn’t lie. What organisations are saying and what organisations are doing are quite different. And, until they do make the move, some might be bluffing for fear of sounding like they’re behind.” It might also be that IT leaders, for now, are facing challenges in their move to cloud, he adds.

“They want to make the move, they plan on making the move, but they’re not quite getting there yet. Eliminating traditional infrastructure is a major undertaking and it’s unlikely that every cloud provider is fit-for-purpose for every app. Migrating everything to cloud is a daunting task and, while companies are clearly migrating certain services or apps onto cloud, they’re still running their own datacentres.”

Getting there

“Cloud hype has progressed from the urgent ‘move to cloud!’ call of a decade ago, to ‘hybrid cloud rules’ five years ago, to the ‘multicloud or bust!’ message of today. Of course, each of these blanket statements has merit, but there is no magic silver bullet for a businesses’ infrastructure requirements,” says Cruise.

Multicloud environments have grown increasingly complex, with no comprehensive visibility. Organisations are running different services on the cloud provider that best meets their needs for the given application – with no overarching system to link all these siloes. “That is until you consider the virtual machine, like VMware, which is able to optimise applications independent of the cloud environment. And all the benefits of cloud are not just hype – it truly does increase agility, efficiency, longer-term hardware efficacy and even greater security,” adds Cruise. And decisionmakers are clearly aware of this – albeit that the predicted shift is happening slower than expected. All signs point to ever more adoption. IDC predicts that compute and storage spending for cloud infrastructure will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 12.4% for 2020-2025 before reaching $118.8bn in 2025. 

“Although the move to cloud has been slower than experts predicted, I believe that the multicloud story will be slightly more common than niche. There’s still a long road ahead, but the truth is that it’s not too late to start considering the cloud journey and benefit from the great savings and efficiency that virtual hosted environments offer. Using the right tech, and partnering with the right provider, can create the most efficient systems your organisation has seen to date.”

The Future of ERP is in the cloud

The Future of ERP is in the cloud

For faster, more scalable ERP solutions, CIOs are turning to the cloud in greater numbers to help streamline performance across key areas of operations. Marilyn Moodley, Country Leader for South Africa and WECA (West, East, Central Africa) at SoftwareONE, says the industry can expect another big shift to the cloud on the back of SAP customers moving their existing ECC to the cloud and then converting to S/4HANA. Aside from the SAP ECC support deadline in 2027, Moodley says it’s an exciting moment for the industry as businesses are taking full advantage of the time and money saving benefits of S/4HANA.

“Moving from an on-premise system, often with significant custom coding, to a cloud environment can be daunting which is why choosing the right cloud partner for the journey is vitally important. There are so many advantages to running an organisation’s ERP system in the cloud. Businesses can no longer adopt a wait-and-see approach as the time to start your ERP migration to cloud is now,” she says.

Moodley notes the most compelling benefits of moving ERP to the cloud:

Costs:  Your business can shift from a CAPEX to an OPEX model, scaling your infrastructure up or down based on peaks and troughs in demand, so you only pay for what you use, when you use it.

Agility and efficiency: SAP in the cloud will provide you with scalability and access to the latest technologies to help you capitalise on emerging opportunities as they happen. On-premises infrastructure does not benefit from the level of automation and economies of scale available in the public cloud, adding more manual tasks to your workday and building up complexity you must deal with to keep your business running.

Resilience: Hyperscalers provide flexible and cost-effective options to ensure high availability with stringent SLAs and fail-safe disaster recovery so that your business can keep running, no matter what happens.

Innovation: The cloud also makes it easier to adopt emerging cloud trends, like ‘composable architecture’, which involves the breakdown of monolithic architecture into a modular approach. For example, you could have SAP at the centre of your architecture supported by best-of-breed technologies as building blocks. This drives ability to respond to changing environments faster.

Sustainability: Cloud computing is a more sustainable approach than reinvesting in new physical hardware unless you’re able to invest the same levels of environmentally friendly power and cooling systems that are supplied by the big hyperscale cloud providers.

Telecoms Infrastructure:NCC urges Nigerians to Protect Them 

Telecoms Infrastructure:NCC urges Nigerians to Protect Them 



The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has emphasised that telecommunications consumers in Nigeria have a major role to play in complementing efforts being put in place to ensure effective protection of telecommunications infrastructure. This is important to sustain and improve on the quality of service delivery by the service providers.

The Commission made this request and assertion recently at a sensitization programme it organized at Wannune, Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State.

According to the Commission, aside from the role of the law enforcement agencies in protecting telecom infrastructure, the consumers, who are the subscribers and ultimate users of telecom services, have an obligation to do everything to protect telecoms infrastructure in their environment. These include the base transceiver stations (BTS), the underground fibre optic cable, as well as associated infrastructure.

Addressing audience at the programme, the Director, Zonal Operations, NCC, Amina Shehu, decried the problem of vandalism caused to telecom infrastructure which often result in poor quality of service delivery to the end users.

“One of the major challenges to quality of service that operator provide to you, is vandalism of telecom infrastructure, such as Base Transceiver Stations (BTS). Others are theft, hostility from some host communities, which have continued to pose a major setback to the industry. Therefore, it is imperative for the public to regard telecom facilities as collectively-owned infrastructure that are crucial and essential for the provision of efficient and acceptable telecom services. The more reason these facilities need to be adequately protected,” she urged.

While imploring the indigenes of Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State to ensure that they protect telecom facilities in their community, Shehu, who was represented at the event by an Assistant Director, Zonal Operations, NCC, Abubakar Usman, further enjoined the consumers to always alert law enforcement agencies close to them once they suspect any act of vandalism, theft or other suspicious activities directed at telecom infrastructure because such nefarious activities have implications for quality of service delivery in the communities.

Shehu underscored the centrality of telecommunications sector to the economy and she also informed the audience that in the last 15 years, telecom has been a major contributor to the nation’s economic growth and development. The Director Zonal Operations said the Commission will continue to collaborate with relevant agencies and keep sensitising the consumers on their role in ensuring the security of telecom infrastructure.

One issue Shehu discussed in her speech was the misinformation about Electromagnetic Frequency (EMF) radiation emanating from telecommunications infrastructure which she asserted was not harmful according to studies conducted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

Shehu stated that the overall objective of the event is to sensitize members of the public on the need to protect telecommunication infrastructure, and more importantly, to correct the misconception people have on the effect of radio magnetic waves on human health. “So, the Commission is saying again to you that there is no scientific evidence yet that shows that radiation from telecom masts constitute health hazards to human and we want you to help spread this information to those that are not here,” she said.

During the event, participants were also enlightened on the illegality of pre-registered Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, the imperatives of proper SIM registration, the importance of National Identification Number,NIN-SIM linkage exercise. The consumers were also informed about facilities provided by the Commission which they can use to improve their telecom experience and quality of life in general. These include the NCC Toll-free Number (622); the 112 National Emergency Number; and the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 short code for managing cases of unsolicited text messages, amongst others.

Meanwhile, the Paramount Ruler of Wannune, Chief Gandeorun Orokaa, who attended the event, thanked the Commission on behalf of the participants for bringing the sensitization programme to the Community to educate the consumers on sensitive consumer-related issues as well as correcting wrong notions and clarifying misconceptions. He also called on the indigenes to support NCC in protecting telecoms infrastructure so as to ensure that quality of service improves in the areas.

The event ended with an audience session, where questions and answers were asked, and observations and recommendations were also made on many aspects of telecom services. In attendance at the event were Local Government workers, Village Heads, Community leaders, Students, Women leaders, Staff of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

NIN-SIM LINK: IS STOPPING OVER 70 MILLION NIGERIANS THEIR ABILITY TO MAKE CALLS WORTH IT?

NIN-SIM LINK: IS STOPPING OVER 70 MILLION NIGERIANS THEIR ABILITY TO MAKE CALLS WORTH IT?

The recently “concluded” National Identity Numbers (NIN) registration for Nigerians is one thing or exercise that is very important. It is said that it will bring down crime, identify real Nigerians and people have argued that it is duplicity but the issue of banning over 72 million of Nigerians from making basic uses of their phones such as making calls via their mobile phones is a bleeding the economy.

Many have argued that, with SIM registrations where Nigerians queued up in various Telecommunication centers to register to their bank verification Numbers (BVN) where Nigerians line up again for that so that they can get their numbers to enable them bank. Nigerians lined up again for voters’ card, driver’s license, passports etc, all these are forms of valid ways of identifying us Nigerians then NIMC came to town with theirs. Nigerians were of the opinion that they have escaped these now they realized that they cannot make calls again due to NIN number! That is the quagmire of about 72 million of Nigerians as of today.

Being run by National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), this agency has put a deadline on the registration and syncing of these numbers with their mobile phones till March 31st. Today about 50% of Nigerians mobile phone or GSM users have been barred from making calls till they get their NIN numbers synced with their devices. This has already rendered these Nigerians incommunicado!

Some of these Nigerians like the average mechanic can’t even call the parts seller to supply him parts, the lady that is baking cakes can’t order for flour, the boy going to school can’t call the parents to come pick him up! The driver can’t call the boss to inform him of the necessary repairs in his car. These set of Nigerians are in crossroads or quagmire and these are the artisans that drive the economy! These are the over 50% of phone users mentioned ab initio!

Do we blame the regulator of the telecoms space for sitting down and watch the industry loose about 40% of their revenue through calls being lost? I do not blame the NCC to an extent, I do not think they should be blamed here, think that the blame should be on the government and NIMC! The NCC are just acting according to directives in my own view, the NCC is one of the foremost regulators that knows their onions and they are not happy that the telecom industry is bleeding! If Nigerians can’t make calls, the industry loses money, and if the industry loses money, NCC will be sad and unhappy but MIMC doesn’t care because their do not play in the telecommunication ecosystem, and also if Nigerians do not make calls, the government loses money from tax and interconnect, termination rates!

Do NIMC know these basic principles of telecommunications, I doubt that they do, if they do, they can’t stop over 70 million of Nigerians from making calls. We are talking billion lost weekly here as revenue! That is the clearer picture and folks must start smelling the coffee and know how are cookies are crumbling in such a perilous economy. From the above deductions, one can understand that NCC might not and will not be happy seeing the telecom ecosystem bleed!

There is no place in the world that the greater part of citizenry is stopped from communicating just because of they didn’t have their national identity numbers, this is akin to disrupting the greater public their freedom of speech and communication. And the Nigerian government through their agency NIMC have successfully denied Nigerians of this crucial right to speech and communication via this fiasco of mandating NCC to stop their communication while the telecoms industry loses billions daily due to this ill-conceived fact.
Stopping people from communication is very bad way of ensuring that people register up, this NIN numbers of a thing can be likened to social security numbers of many countries, unfortunately, we Nigerians are copycats but bad ones for that matter.

Having a full data base of citizens is crucial, we are thinking that b now NIMC would have been creative by ensuring their online platform is robust where people abroad and diaspora can have their registration done seamlessly. A lot of Nigerians have been in diaspora for many years like three years upwards, they make use of their numbers to transacts businesses at home, they roam these lines and how do you expect them not to make calls due to the singular fact that they do not have NIN numbers our own version of social security numbers. Doing this have successfully cut off these set of Nigerians out! This means the scarce forex we are looking for is cut off! This is cutting the nose to spite the face!

NIMC should be creative, you can’t just wake up one morning and cut of Nigerians! What about those in incarceration? What those in prisons? What about the Nigerians in mental asylums or sanatoriums? what about those Nigerians that have been in admission at various hospitals for months that were unable to do their NIN registrations? Are we saying that because they are incapacitated, they shouldn’t reach out to their family and friends to get support especially those in the health facilities, we understand that those in prisons “cannot make calls”, but what about others? Are they less Nigerians?

There is various way to catch a monkey, you can use a banana or you can use other fruits to catch the monkey, that is a popular saying, what this means is that NIMC should be able to find a middle ground in dealing with this errant and erratic Nigerians that have (un)willingly refused to be captured or counted. Many of their grouse is that they are tired of the government data policies and inconstancies. They have many valid arguments and they are right, what they haven’t thought of is doing a class action against NIMC demanding billions in terms of damages due to loss of revenue from their inability to make calls. Some have questioned the constitution and its position of stopping their fundamental rights of freedom of speech by NIMC? They have asked if NIMC was mandated to take this right away from them? But they are yet to think of class action or any ambitious legal luminary taking up these cases.

In sane climes and nations, there are majors that are taken to ensure that folks get social security Numbers such as inability to get a decent job, inability to get good medical service. Let me break it down, the SSN which is known as the social security number is composed of three parts the first three digits are known as area number, then group number which is two digits while the last is serial numbers. We are yet to understand how NIN grouped their numbers and what they are doing about the dead Nigerians that have NIN. What are criminal elements that will the numbers of the dead to do crazy things like SIM card registrations? Is this nit what NIMC is trying to avoid? What if people get the NIN of dead Nigerians and use it to buy SIM cards and get it registered? Is there a mechanism that is in place to counter this? Did NIMC think of this? Did NCC think of this? Did the telecoms stakeholders such as ALTON, ATCON etc think of this? they ought to know by now that Nigerians are some of the smartest bunches on the face of earth and what are they doing to be in tandem with these “smartness” or bunch of smart Aleks hovering around in our ecosystem?

To ensure about 95% compliance NIMC must devise ways to ensure that Nigerians comply not tampering with their devices. Stopping their devices from communicating is a wrong devise. In other countries as mentioned they have devised ingenious means to ensure that people have their SSN that even make people que for them without even compelled to. The USA government created theirs about 1936 to track how much Americans make during their lifetime and calculate their social benefits. Do NIMC have any form of social benefits for Nigerians after unblocking or unbarring our ability to call ourselves?

With the Social Security Number, you need to have it to collect government benefits, get a job and use for identification. So, in this case where do we place NIN numbers? It is of the opinion that NIMC should harmonize their data as the topmost identity protection agency, they are what CBN is to bank and what NCC is to telecoms, they should harmonize various agencies from CBN, NCC, INEC, FRSC, IMMIGRATION and others that collect identities and sync them with their own data to give Nigerians their unique identities without having to go through making Nigerians que and then for those that didn’t que get the Easter present of not calling their loved ones to wish them Happy Easter. NIMC must start looking at how to deploy robust technology, rejig their IT infrastructure and build world-class capacity that can mandate above mentioned agencies to sync their data in their highly secured tier IV data center and cloud. This sync will make creating of national identity number seamless for many Nigerians without queuing under the sun or loosing ability to make calls. A simple artificial intelligence (AI) solution can get this done.

Anthony Emeka Nwosu

NCC, Google Collaborate to Drive Nigeria’s Digital Transformation

NCC, Google Collaborate to Drive Nigeria’s Digital Transformation

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Google Global Services Nigeria have expressed determination to work together toward advancing the actualisation of auspicious national targets for ubiquitous broadband access in furtherance of Nigeria’s digital transformation policy. This aligns with and gives unambiguous expression to NCC’s strategic vision plan centering on strategic partnership and collaboration with necessary stakeholders in order to achieve regulatory objectives.

The two organisations made the commitment when a delegation from Google Global Services Nigeria paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s Head Office in Abuja recently to deliberate on viable collaborative interventions to propel digital transformation across the country and Africa.

Receiving the Google delegation, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the Commission’s expectations, initiatives, and vision towards increasing broadband penetration, quality of service, advancement of a digital economy and commitment to improving national security through technological advancement are at the front burner of its regulatory interventions.

Underscoring the importance of such synergy between the Commission and Google, Danbatta, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services (ECTS), NCC, Engr. Ubale Maska, said the Commission looked forward to making the initiatives of both parties more impactful by enhancing cooperation between the NCC and Google Nigeria for quantifiable and remarkable impact.

The EVC expressed optimism that Google’s investment in the subsea cable, Equiano, which is expected to land in Nigeria by end of April 2022, will be more impactful in driving NCC’s ongoing implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025, aimed at increasing broadband penetration to 70 per cent by 2025.

“I am hopeful that Equiano will have additional landing points in the hinterlands through collaborative efforts with the licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) to reduce retail data prices significantly and thereby complementing the Commission’s efforts at ensuring affordable Internet services are available to boost the Commission’s ongoing broadband policy drive,” he said.

Earlier in her remarks, the Director, Google West Africa, Juliet Ehimuan, who led the delegation to NCC, commended the NCC for its consultative approach in formulating regulatory policies, as engine room for optimal delivery of telecommunications services that will in turn impact the digital economy drive of the government.

She particularly applauded the Commission for its seamless, fair, credible, impartial and successful auction of the 3.5 Gigahertz spectrum for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) in Nigeria, stating that it is evident that both the NCC and Google share a common goal.

According to Ehimuan, demands for internet services have increased the need for more capacity, and sustainable collaborations with all relevant stakeholders within the public and private sectors. She asserted that Google’s commitment of $1billion across five years in various interventions will support digital transformation in Nigeria and across Africa.

Ehimuan stated that research has proven that Africa will have an additional 300 million Internet users and Nigeria will lead in that number, given its current statistics of over 141 million internet subscribers and broadband penetration of over 40.88 percent as at January 2022.

The Equiano cable system is the third private international cable owned by Google and the 14th subsea cable invested by Google. Equiano connects Portugal and South Africa, running along the West Coast of Africa, with branching units along the way that can be used to extend connectivity to more African countries. The first branch is expected to land in Nigeria by end of April 2022

Unblocking SIM Cards Require SIM Linkage….

Unblocking SIM Cards Require SIM Linkage….

…We are Not Recruiting – NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) wishes to officially inform telecoms consumers, whose Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards are barred from making calls, that affected SIMs will not be unbarred by the service providers until they are linked with the National Identification Numbers (NINs) of the SIM holders.

This information has become necessary in view of a viral web link (https://bit.ly/NCC-Sim-Unbar-Gov-Ng) being circulated on social media and on some websites. The link and accompanying narrative represent patent misinformation and disinformation certainly designed to mislead the general public about the SIM cards that are barred from making calls, due to non-linkage with NIN at the set deadline.

The misleading, viral message mischievously displays NCC logo and ostensibly promises members of the public that, by clicking the web link and following further instructions in that regard, subscribers with barred SIM cards can unbar such SIMs across mobile networks without a valid NIN.

For the avoidance of doubt, the NCC wishes to state categorically that it never issued such statement, directing subscribers or  indicating that subscribers can unbar their SIM without a NIN. As such, the originators and peddlers of the spurious message were out to mischievously mislead unsuspecting members of public. Therefore, their message should be disregarded.

The NCC is the national regulatory authority for telecommunications in Nigeria, and it is co-driving the process of the NIN-SIM linkage with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as directed by the Federal Government.

The Commission will not, under any circumstance, act contrary to Federal Government’s directive to MNOs to bar SIMs cards not linked to NINs at the expiration of the last deadline given for the NIN-SIM linkage exercise.

Having disclaimed the false viral message, the Commission wishes to officially inform affected telecom subscribers on how they can get their SIMs actively connected to make calls.

First, for subscribers that have not registered for their NIN, what to do is to get their SIM registered at accredited centres across the country and then link the NIN with their SIM cards through channels provided by their service providers.

Secondly, for subscribers with registered NINs, what to do is to simply go and link the NIN with their SIMs through channels provided by their service providers.

The NCC, therefore, uses this opportunity to reiterate its commitment to the Federal Government’s directive on the NIN-SIM Linkage to among others, strengthen security situation in the country, assist in other socio-economic planning activities of the government, as well as to always advance the course of consumer protection from falling victim to the antics of cyber fraudsters.

Finally, the NCC wishes to also inform the general public that it is not recruiting at the moment.

Accordingly, the advertisement indicating there is ongoing recruitment at NCC, which is circulating on Twitter, and through polymediation, may have been diffused to other social media networks, is a scam and should be disregarded.

NCC’s Experiences at ITU Bolstering Nigeria’s Digital Transformation – Danbatta

NCC’s Experiences at ITU Bolstering Nigeria’s Digital Transformation – Danbatta


The Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) vast experience as a long-standing member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has served as a booster to the Commission in its effective implementation of government policies, and in stimulating regulatory initiatives focused on advancing Nigeria’s digital transformation. The NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has said.


Danbatta stated this while addressing global actors in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry at the ongoing Session of the ITU Council taking place in-person at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, from March 21-31, 2022.


Speaking at the Council session, Danbatta said the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the important role ICT will continue to play in ensuring peace, security and prosperity around the world.  “It is as a result of the enabling experiences in the ITU ecosystem that Nigeria continue to be active and forward-looking regarding the activities of the ITU as the leading organ of the United Nations (UN) in the area of ICT,” he said.


He emphasised that, as a long-standing member of Council, Nigeria has utilised ICT as a driver of socio-economic development not just for herself, but also for the benefit of the sub-region and the continent, given its role as a founding member and flagship promoter of the West African Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA).


“Over the years, as a member of ITU, Nigeria has chaired World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC)-15; chaired ITU Council Standing Committee on Administration and Management (SC-ADM), in 2019 and 2022; as well as chaired the Ad-Hoc Committee on ITU Regional Presence”, the EVC said to underscore the strategic, symbiotic relationship between Nigeria and ITU.


Reinforcing the intensity of his assertion on the contribution of Nigeria in ITU, Danbatta said, “Nigeria had also chaired ITU-Standardization (ITU-T) Study Group 20 Regional Group for Africa; served as Vice Chairman, ITU-T Study group 20;  served as Vice-Chair, ITU-T Study Group 12; Vice-Chair, ITU-Development D Study Group 2; as well as provided Financial Support to ITU Headquarters Building, among others”.


The EVC said this robust experience in ITU has continued to enable Nigeria, through NCC, and was particularly instrumental to the recent management of a globally-acclaimed transparent auction of Fifth Generation 5G licence in 2021; achieve 40.88 per cent broadband penetration in Nigeria as at December 2021; implement robust financial inclusion initiatives; as well as in the promotion of universal access across institutions and communities in Nigeria through the NCC’s Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF). “All these were made possible through the successful launch and implementation of policies to foster use of ICTs across all sectors and enhance a digital economy,” he said.


Meanwhile, the EVC has used the opportunity of his brief remarks during the Council session to announce Nigeria’s intent to seek re-election to ITU Council during the forthcoming Plenipotentiary Conferences. According to Danbatta, having Nigeria re-elected will help the country to continue to collaborate with and support ITU’s development agenda, ensure effective and efficient implementation of ITU Resolutions, implement inclusive programmes to foster universal use of ICT across all divides, and provide focused and strategic partnership. “We look forward to a robust Council session and subsequent support for Nigeria during the forthcoming elections,” Danbatta stated.


The ITU is governed by the Plenipotentiary Conference and the Administrative Council. The Plenipotentiary Conference is the supreme organ of the Union. It is the decision making body which determines the direction of the Union and its activities.


The Council, on the other hand, acts as the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences. Its role is to consider broad telecommunication policy issues to ensure that the Union’s activities, policies and strategies fully respond to today’s dynamic, rapidly-changing telecommunications environment.


The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference for this year is scheduled to take place in Bucharest, Romania, from Monday, September 26 to October 14, 2022

Ukheshe processes first live instant payments in MEA with Mastercard Track Instant Pay

Ukheshe processes first live instant payments in MEA with Mastercard Track Instant Pay

The first businesses in the Middle East and Africa region have started to experience the seamless ease of Mastercard’s Track Instant Pay solution, in partnership with leading pan-African fintech enablement partner, Ukheshe Technologies.

Track Instant Pay is a next-generation virtual card solution that uses machine learning and straight-through processing to enable instant payment of supplier invoices – the first of its kind.

“It safely and intelligently authorises immediate payments to a supplier once a supplier submits an invoice,” says Paul Selibas, President: Channel Solutions at Ukheshe. “First, it analyses received invoices using sophisticated machine learning to identify those likely to be rejected, then authorises the rest for payment on the same day. These payments are sent digitally, directly, and securely to the supplier’s bank account via a Mastercard virtual card. It eliminates all the usual manual processes, from verifying and manually approving invoices to manual payments or lengthy check processing.”

Improving the bottom line

Mastercard’s whitepaper on this new solution revealed that extended payment terms and late payments create a long-standing point of friction between buyers and suppliers. Even virtual cards, in theory a great solution, have not eased these pain points.

According to the paper, suppliers receive an email indicating they have a virtual credit card payment. The supplier must click a hyperlink from the issuing bank, log in and manage credentials to that bank account to see the full number. They then see a list of invoices that are being paid in a different portal. Next, the supplier must key that transaction into its own system. Overall, this is a highly manual and expensive process, and Mercator estimates that roughly 90% of virtual card transactions are processed this way.

Furthermore, a 2020 study of SME suppliers in the UK showed that the average SME supplier was chasing five outstanding invoices at any point in time, eating up 1.5 hours per day. Says Selibas: “Within emerging markets across Africa and the Middle East, there is a specific and growing need for a system that can facilitate corporates in paying multiple large municipal bill payments at once, and this solution addresses that on all fronts.”

“It benefits every involved party – it unlocks cashflow for suppliers who usually suffer lengthy payment terms or late payments; saves valuable time, costs, and working capital for buyers; and it removes friction to improve business relationships. Buyers can manage their working capital more efficiently using the credit line tied to their commercial card account; while unique, dynamically generated virtual account numbers with layers of control provide enhanced security for supplier payments.”

The way forward

Ukheshe and its turnkey Eclipse platform is already Mastercard’s preferred implementation partner in South Africa, having successfully launched Africa’s first Mastercard virtual card for use on WhatsApp last year. The card giant once again appointed Ukheshe as its partner in this solution.

Anton Coertzen, CCO at Ukheshe, says this type of technology could change the business landscape forever. “Mastercard’s solution, combined with Ukheshe’s Eclipse platform, can change the way businesses manage payments – saving time, money and energy for all parties involved. With Eclipse, we can add new services to our clients’ suite so that it grows with them when their needs, and those of their own clients or suppliers, change over time. It fits perfectly into Ukheshe’s vision of fintech enablement, modernising business-to-business transactions, and financial inclusion.”

Kingston Technology Tops List of Supplier Channel SSD Shipments in 2021

Kingston Technology Tops List of Supplier Channel SSD Shipments in 2021

Continued Growth in Q4 Solidified #1 Ranking for the Year

Kingston Digital Europe Co LLP, a flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced it closed out a prosperous 2021 in the number one spot for SSD Unit market share in the channel. SSD demand through Q4 2021 remained high due to continued growth in the client, enterprise and OEM sectors. In October, Kingston also broadened its portfolio by launching two new high performance client M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSDs, KC3000 and Kingston FURY Renegade.

Market share data from analyst research company TRENDFOCUS showed Kingston as the number one client SSD vendor in the channel with 22.2% for unit market share and 22.3 million client SSDs shipped for all of 2021 in the channel. In Q4 alone, Kingston’s client SSD market share grew to a substantial 26.8% in the channel which displays a healthy annual unit growth despite ongoing component shortages. According to TRENDFOCUS, total client SSD units increased 12.4% YoY in 2021. Notebook PC units increased 12% YoY while desktop PCs inched up 1% over the same period, reflecting the rapid adoption of solid-state drives by clients largely due to performance, size and reduced power consumption. Kingston maintains a competitive advantage by working closely with its suppliers, partners, and customers to remain flexible and adapt to ever-changing needs and market conditions.

“2021 saw a nearly 9% increase in total PC shipments1, the highest volume shipped since 2014. The transition of PC demand over to commercial models amplified an already high SSD-attach rate in notebook PCs and continued to fuel growth opportunities,” said Don Jeanette, vice president, TRENDFOCUS.

“The 2021 research findings validate Kingston’s growing presence and position in the SSD market,” said Tony Hollingsbee, SSD business manager, Kingston EMEA. “As we celebrate our 35 year anniversary, Kingston has been a consistent and trusted manufacturer of high-performance storage solutions. Over the past decade, we’ve continued to solidify our product portfolio with strong SATA offerings as well as distinct NVMe solutions optimised for notebooks and desktops. It takes an entire team to accomplish this feat and we both thank and share our success with our partners, vendors and customers.”
For more information visit kingston.com.

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About Kingston Digital Europe Co LLP
Kingston Digital Europe Co LLP and Kingston Technology Company, Inc., are part of the same corporate group (“Kingston”). Kingston is the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products. From big data, to laptops and PCs, to IoT-based devices like smart and wearable technology, to design-in and contract manufacturing, Kingston helps deliver solutions used to live, work and play. The world’s largest PC makers and cloud-hosting companies depend on Kingston for their manufacturing needs, and our passion fuels technology used by the world every day. We strive beyond our products to see the bigger picture, to meet the needs of our customers and offer solutions that make a difference. To learn more about how Kingston Is With You, visit Kingston.com.