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Fraudsters invade mobile money transfer systems

Thursday February 03 2022
MoMo fraud pic
By ELIE MUTANGANA

As the government continues to push for a cashless economy, more unsuspecting Rwandans
are losing money to fraudsters.

Use of mobile money services peaked during the lockdown with National Bank of Rwanda figures indicating that within two months of the lockdown, transactions grew to about Rwf 60 billion from just about Rwf 28 billion before the pandemic.

However, as transactions increase, fraud has also been on the rise. For instance, between July 2020 and June 2021, some unsuspecting Rwandans lost at least Rwf 7 million to fraudsters.

During the same period, law enforcement agencies say they received 302 cases of mobile money frauds and arrested 328 suspects.

According to Thierry Murangira, the spokesperson of Rwanda Investigation Bureau, fraudsters took advantage of the pandemic as more transactions were done using mobile money.

However, cases of mobile money fraud are now on the decline.

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“... People need to be careful and report cases so that we follow up the suspects and punish them...” Mr Murangira said.

Victims who spoke to Rwanda Today say fraudsters call and promise them to deliver some services.

In some cases, the money is stolen through agents. For instance, Joseph Nshimiyimana, told Rwanda Today that a fraudster called him and lied that he had mistakenly sent him money, and requested that it be sent back. The unsuspecting Nshimiyimana simply sent the money without checking his balance.

“I just found my account low after sending the money...” he said.

Sometimes, the fraud is done by people close to the victim.For instance, Nkurunziza Augustin told Rwanda Today that someone once stole money from him after telling him that his daughter was hospitalised at school.The fraudster requested Rwf 50,000 for medication.

“A person called me to say that he is a friend of my daughter who was then at school, he reported to me that she is suffering from fainting injuries. He requested the money for treatment, and then I sent the money, but after I called the school and they said my daughter is not sick...” he said.

In September last year, the biggest local telecom — MTN Rwanda rolled out a new cash withdrawal process in a bid to curb in creasing cases of mobile money fraudsters.

All mobile money customers have to pre-authorize any withdrawal request by dialing *182*7# before an agent can send a withdrawal prompt message.

In October 2021, Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority ( RURA) also tightened SIM card registration and swap, requiring National IDs and photographs. It also allows users to track SIM card owners.

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