NCC expands phone checks to curb fraud across Nigeria’s digital

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is moving to extend phone-number verification across more sectors of the economy to close security gaps that expose bank accounts, pension savings and online transactions to fraud involving recycled or compromised mobile numbers.

The proposed expansion of the Telecommunications Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) is aimed at helping financial institutions and other service providers identify numbers that have been reassigned to new users or flagged for suspicious activities before granting access to sensitive services.

NCC Executive Vice-Chairman, Aminu Maida, disclosed the plan on Tuesday at the commission’s 95th Telecom Consumer Parliament in Lagos, saying the regulator was working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the system to sectors that rely on phone numbers to verify customers and facilitate transactions.

“A phone number has also become part of our digital identity, used to access financial services, manage pensions and shop online,” Maida said.

The initiative addresses a growing vulnerability in Nigeria’s digital economy, where mobile numbers are routinely used to receive transaction alerts, reset account passwords and authenticate financial transactions. When a number is reassigned without the relevant service providers updating their records, a new user could potentially receive communications intended for the previous owner.

Extending TIRMS across sectors could help organisations detect such risks earlier, reducing exposure to unauthorised access, financial losses and disputes over digital transactions.

The move builds on the NCC’s collaboration with the CBN to strengthen consumer protection and curb payment fraud. The system provides an authorised mechanism for checking the status of phone numbers, particularly those that have been recycled or flagged for suspicious activity.

Maida’s announcement came as the regulator disclosed that 75 million subscribers had received airtime compensation for poor telecommunications service in 2026, while nearly three million customers had been refunded for failed airtime and data purchases.

The commission also recorded more than 6,500 network interventions during the year, including equipment upgrades and capacity expansion.

Maida, however, said financial compensation could not fully address the economic consequences of unreliable telecommunications, particularly when service failures disrupt business transactions or cause customers to lose opportunities.

“Compensation matters, but it cannot recover a lost business opportunity or an important conversation that could not take place,” he said.

The NCC is also preparing new data-usage notification guidelines intended to give subscribers clearer information about consumption, remaining balances and charges. The measures are expected to improve transparency and help customers monitor spending on telecommunications services.

For businesses, the broader economic stakes are significant. As banking, commerce, payments and other services move increasingly online, confidence in the systems used to verify customers becomes essential to reducing fraud, protecting savings and sustaining digital transactions.

The planned expansion of phone-number verification could therefore strengthen the infrastructure underpinning Nigeria’s digital economy, provided participating organisations integrate the system effectively and maintain accurate customer records.

The challenge for the regulator will be ensuring that stronger verification translates into fewer fraudulent transactions and more reliable consumer protection, while preserving the convenience that has made mobile connectivity central to everyday financial and commercial activity.