Unauthorized sale of SIM cards, considered a criminal offense since 2014, seems to happen in the light of the day in the center of Tirana.
Investigative program Fiks Fare conducted a several-day observation in the area in front of the Bank of Albania known where various traders easily sell telephone numbers registered in the name of other persons, activated and ready for use. Even the traders themselves are aware of the purpose for which the “goods” they sell are used.
These cards are sold at a price several times higher than their normal price, from 2,000 Lek to 6,000 Lek. There you can not only find SIM cards of Albanian companies, but also SIM cards of Italian and English companies. The latter can be used to activate social networks.
In the conversations that Fiks Fare journalists had with the traders who sold in this area, they found a variety of numbers sold in this black market. The traders said that the numbers they have are Italian, English, German and of two Albanian mobile companies.
The journalists bought an English number worth 3 thousand lek, which was not activated when it was placed on the mobile device. After the number was not activated, the journalists returned to ask for another number. The same dealer offered them another number, but it didn’t work either. After changing 4 numbers they found one that was active.
The next day, the reporters managed to meet the supplier who distributed the numbers to dealers. This time, Fiks Fare’s associate returns to buy an Italian number, worth 3500 ALL. The latter helped the associate to activate the number on the mobile device.
In the conversations that Fiks Fare had with the supplier, it can be seen that they do this work with complete confidence as they have ‘acquaintances’. The dealer says that there were cases where he was caught by the police and that he stayed in the cell, but he still continues his illegal activity.
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