Telecommunications fraud in Mozambique fell by 64% in 2025

Afraud in telecommunications in Mozambique fell 64% in 2025, to 195.045 occurrences, but the scam mechanisms are more sophisticated and represent a challenge in network security and consumer protection, announced today the regulator.

According to the Telecommunications Safety and Resilience Report 2025, released by the National Institute of Communications of Mozambique (INCM), the reported incidents had a consolidated financial impact of 128.31 million meticals, demonstrating that the reduction in the number of occurrences did not eliminate the losses associated with fraudulent practices.

The report, presented to industry operators on Tuesday, assesses security and responsiveness to fraud, threats, technical failures and other incidents in mobile telephony, Internet and television broadcasting services.

Among the most frequent fraud modalities identified are “Wangiri”, which consists of making short calls to induce recipients to return the call, usually for international numbers or value added, SIMBOX, associated with irregular referral of international calls, and SMS Phishing, based on sending false messages to obtain personal data, banking or access codes.

The chairman of the board of directors of the INCM, Helena Fernandes, considered that the reduction of occurrences is a positive sign, but warned that the evolution of the modalities of fraud requires a continuous and coordinated response.

“ While the reduction is a positive sign, it should be recognised that these and other forms of fraud continue to pose a significant challenge for sector safety and consumer protection.

“ This requires us to remain alert and modernise our prevention, detection and control systems,” he said, quoted in the INCM information released today, on the report.

The document also warns of risks associated with extreme climatic phenomena, stating that the Dikeledi and Jude cyclones caused the inoperationality of 174 telecommunications stations, exposing infrastructure vulnerabilities and the need to strengthen the redundancy of systems and the continuity of services.

In view of these challenges, the regulator advocates strengthening cooperation between operators and sector entities through timely information sharing, systematic reporting of incidents, the promotion of digital literacy and the implementation of effective reporting and fraud prevention mechanisms.