Airtel Ghana has introduced a short code – 919, for customers to report SIM Box numbers, as part of efforts to curb SIM box fraud in the telecommunications industry which adversely affects the industry’s revenue. SIM box fraud is a set up in which some fraudsters in Ghana connive with partners abroad to route international calls through the internet using voice over internet protocol (VOIP) and terminate those calls through a local phone number in Ghana to make it appear as if the call is a local call. The caller is often not aware of the activities of these cyber fraudsters whose activities result in the loss of revenue to the state. This illegal activity is an issue of concern to Airtel Ghana, the Ministry of Communication (MOC) and the National Communications Authority (NCA) since the revenue loss affects the nation’s financial basket as well. In a release, the Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah says “Airtel Ghana has deployed state of the art systems at very high costs to actively detect SIM box on a real time basis to enable us block these numbers the moment we detect them on our network”. According to Mr. Sowah, besides the internal systems put in place, Airtel Ghana in collaboration with other telecom operators provides information to the security agencies, the NCA and the MoC to assist in arresting these criminals from their hideout. Mr. Sowah called on the general public to help Airtel Ghana in the fight against SIM box fraud which is a menace to the telecommunications industry and the country as a whole. To report a SIM box number, customers are asked to text the SIM Box number to short code 919 and the number will instantly be taken off the system. They can also email the Revenue Assurance and Fraud Team of Airtel Ghana via email at fraud@gh.airtel.com or call the Customer Services helpline number on 0260000121 (Toll free for Airtel customers).