MTN Ghana has joined forces with the Ghana Police Service in the arrest of three persons allegedly involved in mobile money fraud. The three suspects were apprehended on 20th April, 2017 after MTN officials tipped off police in Accra.
The arrests took place at Santa Maria, a suburb of Accra, where the suspected fraudsters are believed to reside. Police said the modus operandi of the fraudsters included sending scam messages requesting unsuspecting subscribers to call specific numbers to redeem cash prizes.
The unsuspecting customers were then lured into sending money into the scammers’ mobile money wallets as a precondition for receiving the non-existent prizes.
During the arrest, the police officers discovered eight SIM cards, seven mobile phones, and one laptop with numerous incriminating scam messages about to be sent to other victims. A quantification exercise carried out also revealed that the fraudsters had earlier defrauded customers to the tune of GHS7,200.
The arrest comes at a time when mobile financial services have been plagued with an increasing spate of customer-related fraud cases.
Eli Hini, General Manager, MTN Ghana Mobile Money, said: “The MTN Mobile Money service is committed to providing the highest level of security to protect its users. The system and processes conform to best practices in the industry and the service is highly regulated by the relevant authorities. We encourage all our valued mobile money customers to be vigilant and take steps to protect their PIN codes."
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