NCC Moves To Expand Phone Number Fraud Checks Across Sectors

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is planning to extend phone number verification to more sectors of the Nigerian economy as part of efforts to tackle fraud associated with recycled telephone numbers and compromised digital identities.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed this on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, during the NCC’s 95th Telecom Consumer Parliament held in Lagos.

According to Maida, the proposed expansion of the Telecommunications Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) is expected to help organisations identify phone numbers that have been reassigned to new users or flagged for suspicious activities.

He explained that telephone numbers had become an important component of digital identity, as Nigerians increasingly rely on them to access financial services, manage pensions, shop online and carry out other transactions.

“Building on our collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, we intend to extend its use across sectors where phone numbers are used to identify customers and carry out transactions,” Maida said.

The initiative builds on the NCC’s collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen fraud prevention and improve consumer protection within the country’s digital financial ecosystem.

TIRMS provides an avenue for authorised organisations to check the status of telephone numbers, including those that have been swapped, deactivated, blacklisted or reassigned to other subscribers.

The verification process is intended to reduce the risks of unauthorised access to accounts and services, particularly where a number previously associated with one customer has been allocated to another person.

The expansion could benefit financial institutions, fintech companies and other service providers that depend on mobile numbers for customer identification, authentication and transaction processing.

Meanwhile, Maida highlighted other consumer protection measures being implemented by the commission, including interventions to improve telecommunications network quality and compensation for subscribers affected by poor service.

He disclosed that more than 6,500 network interventions had been recorded in 2026, while 75 million subscribers had received airtime compensation for poor service. Nearly three million subscribers had also received refunds for failed airtime and data purchases.

The NCC said it would continue monitoring operators’ performance and strengthening consumer protection measures as telecommunications services become increasingly important to Nigeria’s digital economy.

The planned expansion of TIRMS forms part of broader regulatory efforts to improve phone number security, reduce identity related fraud and strengthen trust in digital transactions.