Contract customers in particular need to be extra vigilant about protecting their phone especially in light of new fraud syndicates that use your SIM to call international premium-rated numbers and clock up R2 800 an hour on your phone bill.

The first step is to ensure that you have what is referred to as a “soft” cap on your account where you have to give authorisation to go beyond a certain limit. This protects you not only from fraud but also if you inadvertently have your data roaming on when travelling abroad – the issue of downloading data on international networks has also resulted in shock phone bills.

The “soft” cap is currently offered by cellphone companies however many customers opt out of this as it is viewed as an “irritation”.

If you are a Vodacom customer make sure you have signed up for their security features. Nomsa Thusi, head of media at Vodacom says in 2011 Vodacom launched a new security feature to help protect customers from this type of fraud by automatically locking their SIM card if irregular call activity is detected – in the same way credit card companies detect irregular charge activity.

“Vodacom’s cellphone security measure can detect abnormal activity and high call volumes and charges – this includes any significant increase in call values, particularly any suspicious international roaming calls that appear to be out of the ordinary. The system will automatically lock the SIM card should this occur. When a customer’s phone has been locked due to suspicious activity, the customer will be contacted on the alternative number that Vodacom was provided with by the customer when the contract was signed,” says Thusi, who adds that this auto-lock solution has been implemented for all Vodacom contract customers, but there is an exclusion option which is made available to customers wishing to opt out of the service.

Karen Fourie, head of communications at Cell C, says the network has systems in place to monitor mobile device usage patterns. “It is, however, important to emphasis that the duty to report a lost or stolen mobile device / SIM card remains with the customer. Customers should also be aware that in terms of section 41 of the RICA Act, there is a duty on customers to report a cellular phone or SIM card as lost, stolen or destroyed, to the South African Police Service.”

Cellphone safety tips:

Make sure you sign up for all security measures offered by your cellphone provider. It may occasionally be inconvenient but it is a small price to pay

• Put a PIN on your handset
• Put a PIN on your SIM card
• Never leave your phone unattended in public places and do not leave your phone in your suitcase when travelling
• Deactivate international calling and roaming on your phone when you are not travelling
• Contact you provider if you think your SIM card has been tampered with in any way
• Make use of the lock functions on your phone