Albert Antwi-Boasiako addressing the press
Principal Consultant at the e-Crime Bureau, Albert Antwi-Boasiako, has appealed to journalists in Ghana to lead the campaign to create awareness about mobile money fraud in the country.
Mr. Antwi-Boasiako said this at a day’s workshop on mobile money fraud organized by MTN Ghana, a leading telecommunication company and Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA), an association that campaigns for corporate Ghana, on Tuesday in Accra.
The workshop sought to provide the platform for MTN to educate members of the media fraternity on its mobile money operations and how best journalists can help fight fraud in the sector.
According to him, journalists should begin to engage telcos and other key stakeholders like the law enforcement agencies to fight against mobile money fraud.
Commenting on the role of the media in countering mobile money fraud, he warned that telcos should not be left alone in the fight against mobile money fraud but supported by all stakeholders.
Awareness should be made to help people who are at risk of losing their funds to hackers, he told the media.
That, he said, was because mobile money operations provide a lot of economic, social and health benefits for the state, and it should be really protected from criminal gangs.
Mobile money should be viewed within the wider ecosystem of the Ghanaian economy and not only the profits the providers are making, he urged.
Mobile Money fraud has become a nagging issue for many operators in the telecommunications industry in Ghana.
Mr. Antwi-Boasiako cited customer-driven fraud, agents-driven fraud and service provider-driven fraud.
He warned mobile money users not to send money to third parties they do not know, indicating that fraudsters deceive clients that they have won promos from the various telcos.
He also urged clients to ensure the protection of their data by installing anti-virus on their smartphone devices, avoid downloading all sort of items on their phones, use combination of numbers and words for their passwords in order to make them strong.
With the mobile money sector expected to dominate the financial industry in the next 20 years, Mr. Antwi-Boasiako explained that more work is required by all stakeholders to enhance the security of customers.
Manager of Mobile Financial Services Analytics and Compliance at MTN, Solomon Hayford, on his part, took the journalists through the operations of the mobile money service.
He indicated that MTN, in partnership with about 16 banks and 60,000 agents across Ghana, was offering mobile money services to about 5.6 million subscribers.
By Melvin Tarlue