Mr. Kwasi Osei Hyeaman, MTN Area Sales Manager in charge of the three Regions of the north, has advised customers of the company’s mobile money services to adhere to simple security tips in order to avoid being duped by fraudsters.

He mentioned protecting one's PIN Code and not sharing it with other people and loading one's own mobile money wallet before making transfers as some of the security tips subscribers must constantly adhere to, in order to avoid being duped.

Subscribers were not also to entertain calls concerning their mobile money account and must refuse to authorize transactions that they had not initiated by themselves.

Mr. Hyeaman, who gave the advice during an interaction with the media, Heads of Security Services and some financial institutions in Wa on Tuesday, revealed that the company had set up an internal anti-fraud unit to counter the spate of fraud cases in mobile money transactions.

“The Business Risk Management Unit, which also supervises anti-money laundering issues, is part of internal mechanisms adopted by the company to reduce the chances of fraudulent activities of criminals in the mobile money business,” he added.

The Area Sales Manager of the three Regions of the north said MTN was alarmed at the number of fraud cases in mobile money transactions that were being reported almost on daily basis.

Mr. Hyeaman said subscribers should be more careful with mobile money transactions since the procedure to track these fraudsters in order to apprehend them was difficult.

Notwithstanding the painstaking procedure, the help of the security agencies had led to the arrest and prosecution of over 100 cases at the courts across the country while others were still under investigation.

He, therefore, cautioned the public to be vigilant in order not to fall victims to criminals in the mobile money business.

The mobile money business was introduced in Ghana by MTN, but the terrain has become a fertile avenue for fraudsters who craft various stories to dupe unsuspecting subscribers.

Recently, MTN blocked about 300 agents from their mobile money list for activities that compromised the strict regulations of the company in the mobile money business.

Mrs. Georgina Fiagbenu, the Acting Corporate Services Executive of MTN, said subscribers should not entertain the kind of conversations about their mobile money transactions that allow criminals to exploit and dupe them.

She said the company believed in the corporate social responsibility, hence the many investments in the education and health sectors, as well as in direct human support, including scholarships.