The Nigerian Communications Commission has raised fresh concerns over the resurgence of call masking in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, warning that the illegal practice poses risks to national security while depriving licensed operators and government of legitimate revenue.
The issue was reviewed at the 110th meeting of the NCC Governing Board held on September 9, where the commission expressed concern about renewed call-masking activity across telecommunications networks.
Call masking occurs when the true identity or origin of a telephone call is deliberately altered.
In a common form of the practice, an international call entering Nigeria is manipulated to appear as though it originated from a Nigerian telephone number or shortcode.
That allows those responsible to circumvent the normal international call-routing and settlement system.
How Call Masking Works
Ordinarily, when someone abroad calls a Nigerian number, the international call is routed through authorised telecommunications infrastructure and identified as international traffic.
Operators earn the appropriate international termination revenue from carrying that call.
Call masking attempts to bypass that process.
Using technologies associated with SIM boxing and Voice over Internet Protocol gateways, international traffic can be rerouted and presented to the receiving network as a domestic call.
To the person receiving it, the call may appear to come from an ordinary Nigerian number.
That creates a financial problem because international traffic is effectively being charged or settled as cheaper local traffic.
But the NCC’s concern extends beyond money.
Masked Identity Creates Security Risk
Telecommunications networks depend heavily on accurate identification of where calls originate.
If criminals can deliberately disguise the source of international communications, tracing suspicious activity becomes more difficult.
That creates potential risks involving fraud, impersonation and other criminal activity.
The NCC consequently describes call masking as a threat to the integrity of Nigeria’s communications ecosystem as well as national security.
For consumers, an unfamiliar Nigerian number may appear less suspicious than an unexpected international number.
That can make masked calls useful to fraudsters attempting to deceive recipients about where they are calling from.
Operators and Government Lose Revenue
There is also a significant commercial dimension.
International call termination generates revenue for legitimate telecommunications operators.
When that traffic is fraudulently disguised as domestic traffic, licensed companies lose income.
Government can also lose revenue associated with legitimate telecommunications activity.
That means SIM-box and call-masking operations effectively create an underground telecommunications route running alongside regulated networks.
At scale, such activity can distort traffic records and undermine the economics of legitimate international call services.
NCC Steps Up Network Oversight
The warning comes as the regulator continues pushing operators to expand and improve telecommunications infrastructure.
Mobile network operators have deployed 8,526 of 12,179 committed coverage and capacity sites, representing roughly 70 per cent of the target, according to the NCC.
The commission is therefore dealing with two challenges simultaneously: expanding legitimate network capacity while preventing sophisticated forms of traffic manipulation.
Call masking is not a new problem in Nigeria.
The fact that the NCC is warning of a resurgence suggests previous enforcement has not eliminated the underlying commercial incentives and technology enabling the practice.
Detection Will Be Critical
Stopping call masking will require cooperation between the regulator and telecommunications operators.
Networks can analyse unusual traffic patterns, identify suspicious SIM activity and trace routes associated with abnormal volumes of calls.
Enforcement can then target SIM boxes, gateways and operators involved in bypass activity.
But as detection systems improve, fraudulent operations can also change techniques.
That makes continuous monitoring essential.
Nigeria’s telecommunications networks now underpin far more than voice calls. They support banking, digital payments, government services, businesses and the country’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
Protecting the integrity of those networks is consequently becoming a broader economic and national-security responsibility.
The NCC’s latest warning makes clear that masked calls are not simply an inconvenience for people receiving strange phone numbers.
Behind those calls can be an illegal telecommunications business capable of hiding identities, diverting revenue and weakening trust in the networks on which millions of Nigerians increasingly depend.
