Mobile Money Theft
Mobile money theft is becoming an even more significant issue in the world as the years go by. In Cameroon, Scammers have come up with new strategies to extort money from their victims. One strategy they utilize in their schemes is sending a short message that one has won a great deal of money. Scammers add a contact to the message and a name in which they ask their victims to contact to get the lot. Another example of a scam that scammers use is often they contact someone claiming to have mistakenly sent them money to the mobile money accounts. Afterward the scammers plead with the individual on the line to resend the money. A lot of people fall victim to these scams but others outsmart them.
The action of managing risk in mobile money is proving to be a very challenging task for providers of this service. Trying to manage the risk of fraud is even a tougher task for different companies. Fraud spoils the reputation of telecom companies and also destroys the repute of the service to the customer. When victims fall victim to fraud, it results in financial loss; additionally, mobile money providers suffer financial loss as well.
Scammers Take Over Minister Phone
In Cameroon, Ministers are often targets for scammers and hackers. Scammers mostly target these government officials because they know that using their names to con people could help them succeed in their schemes. Scammers create fake social media accounts using the names of these government officials and con people. In a recent scam involving a minister in Cameroon, the scammers managed to hack into a minister’s phone. The hackers took over the Minister’s phone and started using his phone number for scam purposes via electronic transfers and social networks.
Cameroon’s Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Gabriel Dodo Ndoke, was the recent victim of these attacks. The Minister stated in a press statement that hackers had taken over his phone number. Mr. Ndoke warned all is contacts not to respond to any financial requests coming from his number. Additionally, the Minister asked his contacts to be vigilant and not to follow up on any financial solicitations or any equivocal credit publications coming from him. Mr. Gabriel Dodo Ndoke added that authorities were working to recover his number and indicated that necessary arrangements were in place to get hold of the perpetrators.
Need to Find a Permanent Solution
Finding a permanent solution to the risk of fraud is something mobile money operators need to make a primary objective. Most mobile operators are familiar with how to manage risks on the GSM side of the business. However, the mobile operators that have launched the mobile money service are struggling to acquire a solution to the different kinds of risks that come with the business. In Cameroon, the temporary solution that MTN has come up with is to come in and support and ensure culprits are caught whenever a client lays a complaint with the police.
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