Mobile money users are being warned about a growing scam that could leave them losing money within seconds, and all it may take is saying your phone number out loud at a mobile money vendor.
The scam is a new twist on mobile money fraud and targets people withdrawing cash from agents.
Under the normal withdrawal process, a customer visits a mobile money agent, provides their phone number, receives a prompt on their phone, approves the transaction, and then collects cash from the same agent.
However, fraudsters are reportedly exploiting this routine using a coordinated two-person method.
Here is how the alleged scam works
When a customer arrives to withdraw money, the agent asks them to say their phone number aloud, as is common at many mobile money points.
Unknown to the customer, the agent may already be on a call or initiate a call with another person,
that is a second fraudster located elsewhere.
As soon as the customer mentions the phone number, the second person immediately initiates a withdrawal transaction from another mobile money terminal on your number.
The victim then receives a transaction approval prompt on their phone. Believing it is from the agent standing in front of them, you then enter their PIN to approve the transaction.
When the customer turns to collect cash, the agent in front claims no transaction has been completed on their end. Since the withdrawal happened through a different agent ID, the victim may struggle to immediately understand what happened.
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