Police in the Ashanti Region have recorded five robberies targeting mobile money vendors since January this year, with nearly GH¢250,000 lost, authorities say.

Speaking at a Mobile Money Agents Forum organised by Mobile Money Fintech Limited in Kumasi on Wednesday, 28 October, a top police chief with the Cybersecurity Unit at the regional command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Francis Nimo urged agents to remain vigilant and report suspicious individuals around their shops and banking halls to the police.

“Most of them are traced from banks… so let’s be watchful with the things around us. Let’s be very observant. You can raise alarm when you find any suspicious characters around for prompt action,” he told the agents.

“We were fortunate to arrest one in two of the cases,” DSP Nimo said.

Concerns

DSP Nimo also expressed concern about difficulties the police encounter in obtaining information from some telecommunications networks when investigating mobile money fraud.

He said MTN was more responsive in providing information to support investigations, while obtaining similar data from other networks remained challenging.

“Most of the crime… MTN so quick to provide information [but] with other networks honestly to get information from them is very difficult,” he said.

The information, he indicated, was important in tracing fraudulent transactions and helping investigators identify suspects.

Vigilance

DSP Nimo also said many mobile money fraud cases resulted from mistakes made by users themselves, highlighting the need for customers and agents to exercise greater caution when conducting transactions.

He urged agents to pay attention to their surroundings, raise the alarm when they noticed suspicious behaviour and alert the police promptly.

The forum brought together stakeholders to discuss security concerns affecting mobile money operations, including fraud and physical attacks on vendors.

The police urged agents to remain alert and take precautions to protect themselves, their businesses and their customers.

Don’t share PINs, OTPs

Meanwhile, the Mobile Money Fintech Limited manager has warned customers and agents in Ghana against sharing personal identification numbers (PINs) and one-time passwords (OTPs), saying fraudsters are using the security codes to gain access to electronic wallets and steal funds.

David Nana Addai, MoMo Channel and Development Manager, said criminals often impersonated telecommunications company officials to trick customers into revealing confidential information that could allow them to take control of their accounts.

Addai said fraudsters could obtain phone numbers from online platforms and attempt to register them on the MoMo application, triggering an OTP sent to the legitimate account holder.

The criminals would then contact the victims, often posing as MTN officials, to persuade them to disclose the code.

“People pretending to be calling from MTN just to get One Time Password… One Time Password means you are giving access to somebody to do something on your behalf,” he said.

“What they do is that they are trying to download the MoMo app on your behalf. Once they have a one time password and your PIN code, they can subtract your money,” he added.

Addai urged customers to keep their PINs secret, avoid easily guessed combinations and never disclose their security credentials to anyone claiming to represent a service provider.

He said a stolen phone would not automatically give a thief access to the owner’s funds if the PIN remained secure.

“Once they don’t have the pin they don’t have access to your money. That’s the basic thing,” he said.

Agents warned over transaction fraud

Addai also cautioned mobile money agents about transaction interception, in which fraudsters exploit the time between a transaction being initiated and its confirmation to obtain cash without a completed payment.

He said some criminals loitered around agent shops, watched customers making large withdrawals and attempted to collect cash before agents had verified that the transactions had gone through.

“Transaction interception. People loitering around your shop. Cash out. By the time you finish your process… you don’t get a message. He’s also expecting the money from you,” he said.

He urged agents not to release cash until they had received and verified transaction confirmation, warning that pressure from customers could expose them to financial losses.

Addai also reminded agents to protect customers’ personal information and transaction details, saying they were bound by applicable customer protection and data protection rules.

“We are not supposed to share customer information under no circumstance. We are under law. You are representing us. We have customer protection laws and laws that are covering what we do,” he said.

He urged agents to secure physical transaction records containing customers’ telephone numbers and transaction amounts and prevent unauthorised people from standing close enough to observe or overhear transactions.

The forum focused on the company’s services and measures to protect customers’ funds, with Addai stressing that vigilance by both customers and agents was essential to reducing mobile money fraud.

Participants were also introduced to the company’s portfolio of more than 45 products and services.