We have realised that fraudsters hitting bank and mobile money customers are the same, says official

Richard Yego, the Managing Director of MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited, said during a webinar on anti-Mobile Money fraud on October 13, 2022, that a Memorandum of Association has been signed between the two parties towards the same.

“We have realised that fraudsters hitting bank and mobile money customers are the same and we, therefore, plan to put up a centralized cyber security monitoring system that will enable us to blacklist any person or number suspected to have defrauded a bank customer so that the suspected fraudster is unable to do the same to a mobile money customer and vice versa,” he said.

Fraud, a big problem

Fraud, the two financial entities say, is an existential threat to the financial sector and the growth in digital financial services.

According to the Bank of Uganda, the country has 17 National Payment Systems Providers including MTN Mobile Money and Airtel Money, and 25 commercial banks and all those may be vulnerable to fraud unless positive action is taken to curtail the same.

Fraudsters using simcards of dead or old people

Kenneth Natukunda, a Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS) at the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA), said fraudsters use simcards registered in the names of dead people or old people in rural areas ignorant about mobile money transactions.

He urged mobile phone owners to verify simcards registered under their identification documents.

Patricia Amito, the spokesperson at Uganda Bankers Association, said that financial sector customers should track transactions in their bank accounts in order to forestall fraud.

Again, Andrew Rugamba, representing Airtel Mobile Commerce, appealed to mobile money customers to follow the rules of security when transacting using mobile money. These involve not to sharing their PINs, or the One-Time Passwords (OTP) with anyone, and not using simple PIN combinations that can easily be guessed at, such as 00000 or 12345 or 33333.