4 Kinds of Mobile Money Fraud and How To Prevent Them

preventing mobile money fraud brought to you by digighana


Mobile money is a novel USSD based money transfer system built actively used in various kinds of cash transactions especially in Africa. The growth and success has been phenomenal. Many services including payments, transfers, banking, billing, point of sale etc have been built on the mobile money framework.
However, with this success comes exploitation. There are reports of mobile money fraud and how people actively seek to game the mobile money system. Below is a compilation of some of the common techniques and how to effectively avoid becoming a victim of it.

1. You hand your phone to the agent (never do that), he enters more than you have requested to withdraw but only hands you what you requested and keeps the rest.

2. You receive a fake message about a deposit showing you a fake balance (message not from mtn but a normal phone number). A call follows that a wrong deposit has been made. You send the caller your money (not realizing the text message with your balance information was fake).

3. You are told you have won an amount. You are asked to go to an agent/merchant, call and hand the phone over to the agent/merchant. The caller informs the merchant that you are depositing money into his account. The merchant executes the transaction and requests that you bring the money (leaving you in shock since you thought you were rather receiving money).

4. Someone calls that claiming to be from the mobile money service provider. They will tell you you need to verify your pin. They then send a payment request transaction to your phone. You receive the prompt and without verifying the message you enter your mobile money pin. The system automatically debits you account and credits the payment requester. This has become possible due to the web and app APIs deployed for the mobile payment services.

In the case of 1, don't ever hand over your phone or tell your pin to the merchant/agent.

In the case of 2, always check your balance to confirm if you have received any recent payments and double-check any messages. MTN etc will not send you messages with standard numbers.

In the case of 3, Agents must be sensitized to receive any money from the depositor before they execute a deposit transaction.

In the case of 4, never enter your pin unless you have initiated a transaction yourself or are aware of a transaction request. Also, read every message related to your mobile money transactions before you enter your pin. Even at the premises of the agent/merchant, when you receive a prompt, ask them if the name showing for their outlet is correct and let them confirm before you enter the pin.

Remember to report to the telcos or the police if you suspect fraud or an attempted fraud.

Some reference: https://www.myjoyonline.com/opinion/2017/October-23rd/mtn-mobile-money-fraud-an-inside-job.php

Matt - DigiGhana.com

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