Mobile telecom operator, MTN Ghana has said it is fully committed to fighting against fraud associated with mobile money transactions.

A statement issued by the company on Wednesday, 25 October, said: “MTN Ghana writes in reference to an article published in The Finder newspaper on October 23rd 2017, under the headline Mobile Money Fraud alarming. In the publication, the newspaper alleges amongst other things that staff of telecom companies are involved in mobile money fraud. The allegations made in the report which create negative impressions about the industry, are inaccurate.”

“MTN wishes to state that the company takes the data protection laws of Ghana and the privacy of customers very seriously. Accordingly, MTN has absolutely no tolerance for anyone (be it mobile money agents, employees) who may seek to violate the very stringent policies and processes the company has put in place to protect customer data and privacy. MTN has robust governance structures in place and will continue to safeguard the data and privacy of its customers. Indeed, MTN Mobile Money was the first mobile money service to have received the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification in Ghana.

“MTN wishes to assure our stakeholders that customer pin numbers are not accessible to staff and as such cannot be updated or changed in the system as was purported.

It added: “MTN further strongly disputes the suggestion that 50% of all mobile money subscribers have either been defrauded or targeted. This is highly inaccurate and is unsupported by evidence. Statistics available to MTN confirm that less than one percent of subscribers are affected. The above statistics notwithstanding, MTN considers the issue of mobile money fraud one of utmost importance and continues to be dedicated in the provision of the needed attention to address the situation.”