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Stealing from my Momo wallet
I have always prided myself as a smart Alec. I have tried to be ahead of evildoers, scammers and other fraudsters. As a result, I have never used an ATM card for bank transactions. Not that I ever had so much to be afraid of losing. There is an Ewe proverb which translates to mean that even if you don’t have anything of value, you still have to lock your door.
I got my first MTN Sim Card in 2002 after having used a tiGO one when that company started as Mobitel. The number began with 0244 because that was what the NCA had granted the company at the time it began operations. I still have that number which I registered a money transfer regime with, after pressure from people who would want to transact money transfer business with me.
Then about six years ago, I visited a cousin who was a Medical Officer in Cape Coast to spend a couple of days. On the morning of the second day an SMS pop-up showed on the screen of my phone from a strange number purporting to have credited my MoMo account with over a thousand cedis. What intrigued me was that the balance as indicated from this “transfer” actually showed that if I subtracted the purported addition I would still be left with the amount already in the account.
Suddenly a call came through from someone claiming to have inadvertently credited my account with a thousand that was meant for someone else and that I should go through a certain process to revert the money to him. He claimed he was calling from Winneba. I told him that because it came from a certain number I was only going to resend his text to him so he could have his money. I did not understand the method he wanted to show me and I told him I was not conversant with what he wanted me to do. I told him I was going to Pedu to get it transferred back to him and he agreed.
I quickly drove to Pedu, told a vendor that cash was accidentally dropped into my account and that he should reverse the transaction for me. He took my word and started the process, then realised that the amount in my wallet was not up to a thousand so he could not continue. I did not understand until he scrutinised what was on my phone. “Money transfers don’t come as text message from numbers, Sir. They come with Mobile Money,” he quipped and said it was a scam. The bloke at Winneba called to check if I had done the transfer. Before I could say he was a fool, he hung up.
Before the end of that day I had eight calls from people claiming to be at Kasoa and had moved various sums into my MoMo wallet and asking me to check my account balance in case there was no notification on the screen of my phone. I wondered why my number was a target. How did they get my phone number in the first place? When I tried to find out, I was told these scammers dial numbers randomly, but it turned out that their main targets were numbers beginning with 0244 because that was the initial prefix from MTN so the users were likely to be the elderly who were not technology savvy to suspect they could be victims of a scam.
Their modus operandi has changed over the years. The moment a substantial amount of money hits my phone, a message would pop up asking me to enter my PIN code to complete a “Cash Out” transaction. The latest was just a couple of days ago and the destination was to GCB Bank. I called a friend at one of the branches of the bank just to ask a few questions. The bank was likely to be a victim as well.
I have spoken to the numerous friends who work at MTN. Their response was that under no circumstance should I ever enter my PIN code if I did not authorise any transaction because the fraudsters cannot do that on my behalf. But these scammers never let up. They would call and if they realised that you detected they were fraudsters, another person would call, claiming to be a staff of MTN, to inform you that the previous caller was a fraudster and that you must follow certain steps to protect your account being scammed. In my case, this particular scenario only plays out when I am driving. And it has happened more than 20 times in just a couple of months.
Only last week, I chanced upon a young man who is a mobile money vendor. I poured out my encounters with these scammers and wondered how they could detect a cash lodgement into my account because the latest one requested my PIN code for the transfer of an odd 1,472 cedis. How did the scammer ask for the transfer of that amount? The young man told me these fraudsters have accomplices in the Telcos, in my case, the MTN. The accomplices follow all transactions of clients and relay the information to the scammers and when people fall victim, the proceeds are shared among them.
According to this guy, the scammers are mostly semi-literate or school dropouts who do not have the technological capacity to run the system of the Telcos to follow people’s financial transactions, unless there is someone from the inside. I believed him because the English these scammers speak makes me wonder if the Telcos conduct proper interviews if these blokes were really their staff. Videos abound on social media on the activities of these fraudsters, yet their activities continue unabated.
I am on tiGO-Cash and V-Cash as well, but I have had not a single issue with scammers on their platforms. It’s only MTN. They might be the market leader so they easily attract the hoodlums, but do they have any system in place to monitor the conversations between their staff in the sensitive money area with their clients or partners in crime? If, indeed, there are moles in the Telcos there must be a way to flush them out.
The mobile money is great service for the ordinary folks like me and my relatives in the countryside and everything must be done to protect us from societal deviants and criminals.
If the activities of these criminals were not lucrative they would have folded up by now. Customers need to be protected because not all of us understand what these transactions on these devices entail. The regulators must find a way to ensure that clients of these mobile money regimes are protected. They should not only concern themselves with revenue they get from the operators. They should not allow stealing from our MoMo wallet.
Writer’s e-mail address:
akofa45@yahoo.com
By Dr. Akofa Segbefia
THE state of feeling rejected, could be a terrifying experience especially for those who have become used to fame. If not properly addressed, it could lead to depression and the consequences, could be disastrous.
When you are on top of your game in whatever profession you find yourself such that you become famous, a lot of people try to associate with you. The phone never ceases to ring and one is tempted to feel loved and very important.
When a disaster strikes and the fame or the money which was the source of the attraction fades away, the circle of friends and fans begin to shrink and the phone will start to stop ringing until the call stops voting completely.
You will be shocked at how people you considered friends, will no longer be calling you or pay casual visits as they used to. You will begin to notice that messages you leave after calling them and not getting a response are not replied to and that is when you begin to know who your true friends are.
One of the most popular movie stars was an actress called Sharon Stone. In an interview with one of the media houses that was published, she spoke about how people who should have come around to encourage her in her moment of depression, shunned her. The calls stopped coming.
This is what the Bible admonishes that the arm of flesh will fail you and therefore we should put our trust in God. It could be a very frightening experience and can easily lead to depression.
Human nature being what it is, people will want to get close if things are okay. Everybody wants to associate themselves with interesting things, famous people, rich people etc for mainly selfish reasons.
We need to develop the habit of putting our trust in God and relying less on human beings. The lesson we have to take along in life is that, no one marries his or her enemy so how come people who took vows that they will love each other become so hostile to each other that they want to go their separate ways in life? Such is the reality of life.
It is therefore prudent for people to recognise that, life is full of uncertainties and so there is the need to prepare your mind for uncertainties so that when they occur, they do not disorganise your mental sanity.
A lot of people have experienced situations where people who they could have sworn will never betray their trust have disappointed them when they were through challenging moments.
If there is one thing famous people should desire, it should be the ability to identify who are true friends are. Countless stories abound regarding incidence of celebrities who have lost their shine and their wives divorcing them soon after.
It is sometimes useful as a famous or rich person to sign a prenuptial agreement before marriage to safeguard or protect yourself from any future unpleasant surprises.
People can be very pretentious these days, it goes both ways. There is this real life story where a man married a divorced wealthy woman and convinced her to sell her house so they could build a new one together, with the excuse that people are gossiping that he is being housed by a woman.
The woman agreed and they put up a new building. After a few years the man asked for a divorce, only for the woman to realise that the land on which the building was situated, was bought in the man’s name.
This can drive a person insane, if you are not mentally tough and this happens to you. When people hear that you are homeless, a lot of your so-called friends will stop calling, so that you do not become a burden on them.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
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‘But, er …. I don’t even know your name’.
‘Paul. Paul Allotey. I’m Sarah, by the way. Paul, why don’t you leave me here, since this is the last important thing I’m doing today’.
‘Okay. Now Sarah. I was just thinking. You will be here at the cafe for about an hour. By then it will be about twelve thirty. Then, you would be thinking of buying yourself some lunch, to eat here or to take home. So if you would please allow me, I will take you to one of the nicest eating places in town, and after you have sorted that one out, then I can drop you home. Just that one errand, then I won’t bother you again’.
‘You are not bothering me at all. You are being very kind to me. And I just realised you are a mind reader too. The last item on my agenda was lunch’.
‘I’m so glad I appeared at your doorstep, just in time’.
‘Okay. Now Paul, since you say the cafe is a comfortable place, let’s go in together, and you can do your work while I get my application done’.
‘Okay, Sarah. Thanks. Let’s go’.
We got back in the car at eleven forty-five.
‘So where are we going, Paul?’
‘To Royalty restaurant. It’s a twenty minute drive away’.
‘So, do you enjoy your job?’
‘Most certainly. I won’t change it, not even to be President. And am I right to say that you are preparing to enter the university?’
‘That’s my plan. I hope it works’.
‘It will, if you are determined, and disciplined. You look very much like a disciplined person’.
‘Thank you very much’.
We arrived at Royalty in twenty-five minutes, ‘You are joining me for lunch, Paul’.
‘Thanks for the honour, Sarah. But the bill is on me’.
‘Aren’t you taking on too much for one day?’
‘I never do anything that is bigger than me, Sarah’.
Over the next hour and a half, we discussed fashion, local and international politics, and sports, as we ate and relaxed. Finally, he drove me to the shop.
‘I will never forget you, Paul’.
‘I’m glad to have been helpful. But if you don’t mind, I’ll say it again, your husband is extremely lucky. You are really beautiful’.
‘Thanks again. But do you mind if I call you sometime in the future?’
‘Certainly not. Let me write it here. I will not ask for your number, for obvious reasons. But I will be looking forward to hearing from you. And hopefully, I will see you next month, when I call to drop your bill’.
‘Okay Paul. See you then’. What a lovely day, I said to myself as I opened the front door. I closed the shop and got home by seven. I went straight to the bedroom, stood in the mirror and took a good look at myself. ‘You are a very beautiful woman, Sarah. Never forget that’. I will not forget that, again.
Over the next several weeks, Martin and I had very little to do with each other. In the morning he ate his breakfast and after a shabby ‘I’m going’, he left. He came home around eight at the earliest, ate his dinner and, already soaked in beer, went off to sleep.
He spent the greater part of the weekends at the club house with his friends, playing tennis and partying. My mind was focused on furthering my education, so I didn’t complain to him, and didn’t bother to inform my parents about what was happening. I had decided that I would only take action if he lifted his hand against me again. I spent my free time reading all manner of interesting stuff on the internet, and chatting with my sister on WhatsApp.
One evening, he came home at about eight, rushed to the bedroom and rushed out. An envelope, obviously containing money, dropped out of his pocket, and I picked it up and followed him. I was going to call him and give it to him, but I noticed that there was a young woman in the car, so I went back in, counted it and put it in a drawer in the hall. He came back after some ten minutes.
‘Excuse me, I dropped an envelope containing money. You must have seen it’.
‘Yes, I saw it. Actually, I followed you, and was about to call you and hand it over to you when I realised that there was a woman in the car, so I came back in. I counted it. One thousand cedis.
‘Well let me have it. I have to be going’.
‘I will let you have it if you will tell me who the woman in the car is, and why you are going to give her that amount of money’.
‘Listen, if you waste my time, I will teach you a lesson you will never forget. Give me the money now!’
‘Here’s what we will do, Martin. I know you will give money to her anyway, so I will give it to you, if you will withdraw the threat you just issued. But I want you to know that I will be taking some steps from tomorrow. Things are getting out of hand’.
‘Okay, I’m sorry I threatened you. Can you please give me the money’. I handed it over to him, and he ran out’.
The following morning, I waited for him to finish having breakfast, and told him I wanted to have a word with him urgently.
‘You better be quick. You know I’m going to work’.
‘Well, I want to inform you that I will inform my parents, and your parents, about the situation in this house. As I said yesterday, things are getting out of hand. You spend most of your time drinking. You get drunk every evening, and through the weekend. And you are also spending your time and money on a prostitute’.
‘How dare you? One more stupid word from you …’
‘Am I lying, Martin? You have just started life, yet you are behaving like a rich, elderly man who has already seen his children through university, and can afford a life of fun. As I said, I’m going to inform our parents. Maybe your parents can straighten you out before it is too late’.
‘Look, we can talk this evening. It’s nothing like what you are saying’. He walked away, shocked.
That evening, I was expecting to have a meaningful discussion with him, but his mother called early in the evening to offer me some ‘advice’. Her son had called to say that certain developments at home were disturbing him so much that they were beginning to affect his work.
And, ‘as a loving mother to her daughter’, she was advising me to submit to my husband, and support him in prayer, and not ‘drive him from home’. Men would always be men, and she was telling me ‘from experience’ that no matter how much time Martin stayed away from home, he would always come home to me.
She had been a young wife before, so she understood the challenges I was facing. So I could be assured that if I followed her advice, all would be well. And, of course, she didn’t allow me to tell my side of the story.
Martin came home very late, and very drunk. And from the next morning, he carried on as before. With some hesitation, I called my dad and told him all that had gone on.
‘Well, my daughter. I’m not going to say “I told you so”. I was only trying to protect you. So here’s what we’ll do. Continue doing the best you can, and try not to give him any excuse to harm you, but if things continue to deteriorate, I will take you back.
A couple of days later, my cousin Dinah arrived in Accra from Brussels, having completed her medical course. With Martin’s agreement, I went to Koforidua and spent a couple of days. I spent most of the time chatting about her experiences in the US, but we also discussed my relationship with Martin, and she endorsed Dad’s decision to take action if Martin’s behaviour did not change after two weeks Elaine informed Mom and Dad. We endorsed Dad’s decision to take action if there was no change in two weeks.
Dinah returned with me to Takoradi. Her plan was to spend a couple of weeks, and return to Accra to be posted. I called Paul Allotey, and asked if he would meet her for lunch and, if possible, show her some interesting spots. Delighted, he suggested that we meet at Royalty the next day.
I told Martin about it, to remove any possibility of future disagreement over ‘going out with men’.
‘It’s fine with me’, he said, ‘if, of all the people who could show your sister round this town, you chose a borla man. Doesn’t that indicate the kind of person you are?’
‘ First of all, Martin’, I’ve spoken to him a few times, and he comes across as a decent guy, so I think it is rather unfortunate that you are writing him off when you don’t know him’.
By Ekow de Heer
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