Prime News Ghana

Be careful of Mobile Money fraudsters this Christmas - Police cybercrime boss

By Mutala Yakubu
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ACP Herbert Gustav Yankson the Director in charge of the Cybercrime Unit of the Ghana Police Service has cautioned Ghanaians to be careful of Mobile money fraudsters this festive season.

He said Ghanaians usually tend to trust people easily to the extent of giving out their mobile money pin codes.

ACP Yankson speaking on the Alert Show with Adam Bona on Starr FM said there is no reason good enough to share one’s pin codes as it makes it easy for fraudsters to thrive.

“Do not just trust anything that you are being told, at least try and verify. People just say I’m family member and before you realise they are sharing their codes with them,” he said.

He also said the fraudsters often come with packages that one cannot reject.

READ ALSO: BoG announces new minimum capital for Mobile Money

The caution from the Cybercrime division of the Ghana police service follows worrying numbers of mobile money theft.

Over the last few years, there has been a growing marketplace for fraudsters who take advantage of unsuspecting customers.

The fraudster often sends an SMS that seems to have originated from the Mobile Money Service Provider (MNOs). The fraudsters will then call and tell the recipient that (he/she) the fraudster’s mother is sick at the hospital, he/she wrongly transferred some amount to your wallet instead of his/her sister at the hospital.

The fraudster will ask that the money be returned to a named number and under the guise of emotional sympathy, the subscriber sends the money without having verified the authenticity of the SMS.