A swift move made by Mobile Telecommunications giant, MTN Ghana has averted the duping of a Mobile Money merchant in Tema to the tune of Ghc 4,000.00 by members of a cybercrime syndicate.
Information gathered by BestNewsGH.com has it that on Wednesday 12th June 2019 at about 1000hrs, a known elderly man (later discovered was only used as an involuntary agent) approached the merchant in Tema Community 11 to collect Ghc 2,000.00 remitted to him by a certain pastor.
As though hypnotized, the vendor transferred the amount into an account provided by the elderly man.
Upon checking, the merchant realized that there was no such money from the supposed pastor.
When he (pastor) was called, he claimed to be not only a man of God but also staff of MTN, used the opportunity to caution the merchant against falling prey to criminals hovering around.
After ‘schooling’ the victim, the supposed pastor managed to gain access to the merchant’s private code so as to assist.
A few minutes later, it was discovered that the said pastor had siphoned every pesewa from the account.
A quick call was placed to the Tema office of MTN culminating in a vigilant and alert staff taking up the case and it was evident that the amount of Ghc 4,000.00 first went into an account operated in the newly created Bono region.
Seconds later the money was transferred into the account of a merchant at Assin Fosu in the Central Region.
MTN then blocked the account of the merchant in Assin Fosu.
A report was made to the Tema Community 11 Police who prepared an extract for the victim to enable the largest mobile communication provider in the country to continue with its investigation.
A few hours later, MTN retrieved the stolen Ghc 4,000.00 and credited the account of the vendor who expressed gratitude to the staff of the communications giant.
Madam Elsie Nyame , a Relations Manager at MTN, reiterated the call for the public to beware of fraudsters who always play on the vulnerability of would-be victims.
According to her, each time someone emerges at a point and claims to be receiving money sent through the system, the merchant must verify from MTN before any payment is effected.
On the other hand, as soon as any such fraudulent act is detected, without wasting time, a report should be made to MTN, to block the holding account, she advised.
Source: BestNewsGH.com
