Mozambique's National Communications Institute (INCM) has reported a 64% reduction in telecommunications fraud in 2025, with incidents falling to 195,045 occurrences. Despite the decline, the regulator warned that fraudulent schemes are becoming increasingly sophisticated, continuing to pose a significant challenge to network security and consumer protection.

According to INCM's Telecommunications Security and Resilience Report 2025, the recorded incidents generated a consolidated financial impact of 128.31 million meticais. The figure underscores that a lower volume of occurrences has not prevented the accumulation of substantial losses linked to fraudulent activity.

Presented to sector operators on Tuesday, 3 November, the report assesses security and response capacity in the face of fraud, threats, technical failures, and other incidents affecting mobile telephony, internet, and television broadcasting services.

Among the most frequently identified fraud types is "Wangiri", which involves short missed calls designed to prompt recipients to return the call — typically to international or premium-rate numbers. The report also highlights SIMBOX fraud, associated with the irregular routing of international calls, and SMS Phishing, which uses fake text messages to extract personal data, banking credentials, or access codes.

Helena Fernandes, Chair of the INCM Board of Directors, described the reduction in incidents as a positive signal, but cautioned that the evolving nature of fraud schemes demands a continuous and coordinated response to protect both networks and consumers.

"Although the recorded reduction constitutes a positive signal, it is important to recognise that these and other fraud modalities continue to represent a significant challenge to sector security and consumer protection," Fernandes said, as quoted in a statement issued by the regulator.

She also stressed the need to monitor the evolution of these practices and strengthen countermeasures. "This requires that we remain vigilant and continue to modernise our prevention, detection, and control systems," she added.

Beyond fraud, the report identifies risks associated with extreme weather events. Cyclones Dikeledi and Jude rendered 174 telecommunications stations inoperative, exposing infrastructure vulnerabilities and highlighting the need to strengthen system redundancy and ensure service continuity.

In response to these challenges, INCM called for deeper cooperation among operators and sector entities through timely information sharing and systematic incident reporting. The regulator also recommended promoting digital literacy and implementing effective fraud reporting and prevention mechanisms.