Revector said the problem was rampant throughout Central and South America, including Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras and throughout the Caribbean region.

There was no immediate indication that law enforcement authorities in any of those countries or outside the region took measures recently to beat the fraud.

But, the company said, mobile networks and government regulators are admitting to staggering annual revenue losses from GSM Gateway or SIM box fraud.

"SIM box" fraud occurs when individuals or organizations buy thousands of SIM cards and then offer customers free or low-cost calls to mobile numbers.

The SIM cards are then used to channel national or international calls from mobile network operators and deliver them as local calls. The scam costs operators lost revenue running into tens of millions of dollars.

Revector that SIM box fraud could easily be setting operators back by $150 million a year in lost revenue.

"We have seen countries where tens of thousands of SIM cards are being used for illegal termination at any one moment," Revector Chief Executive Officer Andy Gent said.

"Our studies of more than 50 mobile networks over the last two years show that levels of fraud are topping U.S. $150 million annually," said Gent.

Revector said it has identified illegal SIM box fraud throughout the region and found that, in some cases, SIM cards were generating up to 10 cents per minute for more than 20 days a month, costing an operator up to $3,000 per SIM card per month in lost revenue.

Revector said the problem already existed in Africa. In one particular instance Ghana reported SIM box fraud cost the West African nation $5.8 million in lost taxes.

"Central and South America is likely to exhibit equal or greater levels of fraud where operators have failed to take measures to combat this illegal activity," said Gent.

The scale of SIM box fraud is driven by the easy availability of GSM gateway hardware and the range of different offers available from mobile network operators. "We have seen countries where tens of thousands of SIM cards are being used for illegal termination at any one moment," said Gent.

"Operators are letting significant revenues slip through their shareholders' fingers. Call quality can be severely reduced and standard features such as caller line identity are lost."

Revector says it offers mobile network operators, regulators and governments a quick way to identify SIM box fraud so that they can suspend fraudulent SIM cards in real time.

Analysts said inappropriate use of SIM cards added to security risks because in most cases the callers remained anonymous.

Founded in 2001, Revector has headquarters in London and operates a global network providing "grey route information" from more than 50 countries. The company says it aims to provide an integral and complementary service that supports existing fraud management systems.

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