I will be brief. Here is
how you can avoid being scammed on your mobile money (MoMo) account. I was
almost a victim today, thanks to my kind but careful heart.
I got a phone call this
morning. While taking the call, I got an SMS notification. Talking hurriedly,
the man says in a very responsible voice, “Hello … (he calls my name), I am Justice
Mambo, I mistakenly sent 22,000frs credit into your account. Please resend the
money. You must have just seen the message that just came in.”
The SMS: MobilMoney You just
received FCFA 22,000 from MAMBO CELINE (237681734973) at 28-06-2019 Transacton
ID: 499145045. Reference: 25463 New account balance: 41,000 FCFA.
I asked him to be
patient for me to check. I checked and saw the above standard MoMo SMS. I
called back to verify with him, asking to know if what he sent was airtime
credit or mobile money. He babbled, still hurriedly, “How can you be asking me
if its credit or momo na madam? It is momo and you should know these things. I
am hurrying to go to work and I urgently need the money back. I know you are
concerned about transfer charges so please just send me 20,000frs”.
I told him
politely, my kind heart taking over my reasoning, “Sir, you have to be patient
while I resend you the money.” He was becoming impolite on the phone so I hung
up to do the rightly honest t thing, ‘resend his money’.
I decided to save his
number in order to copy it. Somehow my intuition said to check my previous MoMo
balances (good to keep them and not delete, u can also check by dialing *126#
instantly). I noticed none of my last transactions had the above amount. As I
saved his number in my phone, I went back to take a look at the sender of the SMS.
Behold, it was from the same person who just called me! The sender of a normal MoMo
transaction message is “MobileMoney”!
That’s when it dawned on
me that I was being scammed. That’s when I noticed I was breathing faster as
the truth was unveiling itself, my adrenaline rising…. I remembered what my
younger brother, Tan, told me of a similar experience. I sent him this sms:
MobilMoney You just
received *THE SAME* FCFA 22,000 from MAMBO CELINE (237681734973) at 28-06-2019
Transacton ID: 499145045. Reference: 25463 New account balance: 41,000 FCFA
I added two other SMS messages
for him:
1. Goodluck with your exploits.
2. God bless you.
He didn’t reply, he
didn’t call back. End of story.
1. It is very easy to be scammed, it happens so
fast, leaves you no time to think.
2. Both scammers and scammees are greedy (I was to
be rewarded 2k for my kindness).
3. Always verify and reverify if you aren’t sure.
4. Never accept to be bullied on the phone by
someone you can’t even see.
5. Pay close attention to those you talk to on the
phone. You cannot see them, therefore, your intuition must be at its best to
discern what they are about, just from the tone of their voice.
6. MTN will never ask for your mobile money pin
code (I have received 5 pop-up messages today requesting me to put my pin to
authorize a withdrawal!).
7.
I suspect
that all this happened today because yesterday I did a momo withdrawal in a
call box in town. Just a suspicion.
8.
Let’s be
careful and learn from each others’ experiences. May MTN do more sensitization
on these issues.
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