The police, in collaboration with Telkom, have cracked down on 15 illegal telephone network operations in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Telkom says a joint Telkom-SAPS task team was deployed around Gauteng on Sunday in an all-out crusade to tackle the high rate of unlawful traffic experienced on the Telkom network.
The action resulted in the arrest of 27 foreign nationals from other African countries. Seventeen of those arrested were operating in Pretoria and 10 were arrested in and around Johannesburg. Telkom says 15 illegal scams were identified during the operation, resulting in 11 cases opened with the police.
Telkom faces a growing problem with so-called "clip-on fraudsters", who operate illegal telephone "exchanges" by tapping into private and public telephone lines, and selling calls - some to international destinations - at cheaper rates. Network fraud and theft cost Telkom hundreds of millions of rand a year.
Telkom`s security and investigations head, Peter Ross, hails the operation as a success, saying it has strengthened Telkom`s hand in combating network fraud. Ross warns would-be telephone network fraudsters that similar coordinated efforts are being planned to curb clip-on fraud nationally.
To report clip-on fraud, contact Telkom`s crime centre at 0860 124 000.
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