Features
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
Features
Fix It Fast or Lose Them Forever: The Ever-Rising Importance of Service Recovery in Competitive Industries
Yes, in literature and in practice, differences exist regarding customer service, service failures, and service recovery.
But have you ever considered the latter (service recovery) and its potential impact on service experience, brand building, and sustainable growth?
Well, in today’s fiercely competitive service economy, customer experience has become one of the most powerful determinants of business survival and long-term success.
Across industries, from aviation and banking to telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare, retail, and digital platforms, customers now expect fast, seamless, and reliable service delivery at every touchpoint.
Yet despite technological advancements and operational improvements, service failures remain inevitable.
Systems experience downtime, deliveries are delayed, reservations are misplaced, payments fail, customer inquiries go unanswered, employees mishandle interactions, and digital platforms experience disruptions.
In the midst of these, what increasingly separates successful organisations from struggling ones is not whether failures occur, but how quickly and effectively they recover when they do.
Service Recovery
Simply put, it is the process of fixing a service problem and restoring customer confidence after a failure has occurred.
Examples of service recoveries are; an airline offering compensation after a flight delay, a telecom company restoring interrupted service and providing bonus data, a restaurant replacing a wrongly prepared meal at no extra cost, a hotel upgrading a guest’s room after a booking problem, and finally a bank reversing an erroneous transaction and apologising promptly.
As competition intensifies and customer expectations continue to rise, service recovery is rapidly evolving from a routine customer service function into a critical strategic capability.
Businesses are discovering a hard truth of the modern marketplace: fix customer problems quickly, or risk losing them permanently.
Customers are More Powerful Now Than Ever
Customers now possess more power than at any other time in business history. Digital technology, social media, online reviews, and mobile connectivity have fundamentally changed customer behaviour.
Consumers now easily compare competitors instantly, publicly share negative experiences, switch providers with ease, and influence the purchasing decisions of thousands of others online.
This evolution has made customer loyalty increasingly fragile. A single poor experience can quickly damage years of brand-building effort.
In highly competitive sectors where products and pricing are often similar, customer experience has emerged as one of the few sustainable competitive advantages.
Modern customers no longer evaluate organisations solely by product quality or pricing. Increasingly, they judge businesses by their responsiveness, reliability, transparency, empathy, and effectiveness in resolving problems.
Why Service Recovery Matters More Than Ever
Failures are no longer viewed as isolated operational incidents, especially in competitive service sectors. They are moments that directly influence customer trust, brand perception, and future purchasing behaviour.
Research across service industries consistently demonstrates that customers are often willing to forgive mistakes when organisations respond quickly, communicate honestly, show empathy, and resolve issues effectively.
Conversely, poor recovery experiences frequently create stronger dissatisfaction than the original service failure itself.
For many businesses, the greatest reputational damage does not arise from operational errors, but from delayed responses, poor communication, lack of accountability, and unresolved customer frustrations.
This has elevated service recovery into a central component of customer relationship management and competitive strategy.
Speed, a Competitive Weapon
In the modern service economy, speed is no longer merely operational efficiency; it is a basic customer expectation.
Consumers increasingly expect: immediate responses, real-time updates, fast complaint resolution, and proactive communication. Delays are often interpreted as incompetence, indifference, or organisational inefficiency.
Consequently, organisations are redesigning their service recovery frameworks to prioritize rapid intervention and customer reassurance.
A cursory assessment revealed that some businesses now operate dedicated customer experience teams, 24/7 support systems, AI-powered service platforms, automated escalation systems, and real-time issue monitoring dashboards.
The ability to resolve customer problems quickly is now a major source of competitive differentiation.
Technology Is Transforming Recovery Strategies
Technology is fundamentally reshaping how organisations manage service recovery. Across industries, companies are leveraging artificial intelligence, customer analytics, chatbots, predictive monitoring systems, and integrated digital support platforms.
These tools allow organisations to identify service failures earlier, monitor customer dissatisfaction, automate responses, personalize engagement, and accelerate resolution timelines.
Some organisations now proactively contact customers before complaints are formally lodged, using analytics to identify service disruptions in real time.
This means that the future of service recovery is increasingly preventive rather than purely reactive.
Service Recovery as a Brand Strategy
Forward-looking organisations are now treating service recovery as part of brand management strategy rather than operational damage control.
The logic is straightforward because, acquiring new customers is expensive, dissatisfied customers influence others, and loyalty is increasingly experience-driven.
Businesses are therefore measuring customer satisfaction, response times, complaint resolution rates, customer retention, and net promoter scores more aggressively than before.
In many industries, service recovery performance is now discussed at executive and board levels because of its direct relationship with profitability, reputation, and long-term growth.
A call to action
As industries become more digital, interconnected and customer-driven, service recovery will likely become even more important.
Therefore, organisations that succeed in the future will likely be those that respond rapidly, communicate transparently, empower employees, leverage technology intelligently, treat customers fairly, and place their (customers’) trust at the centre of recovery strategies.
Remember, customers now have more choices, less patience, and greater influence than ever before, a clear message to forward-looking organisations that when service breaks down, recovery is everything. Fix it fast or risk losing customers forever.
Writer: Mohammed Ali
Conflict at work is more common than you might think. According to 2022 research by The Myers-Briggs Company, more than a third of the workforce reports dealing with conflict often, very often, or all the time in the workplace.
Addressing a dispute might feel tense or awkward, but resolving the conflict is typically well worth it in the long run. Whether you are trying to mediate conflict between colleagues or are directly involved. Last week we looked at three and this week is the remaining four steps you can take to manage workplace conflict.
4. Find common ground
The best way to handle workplace conflict is to start with what you can agree on. Find common ground between the people engaging in conflict. If you are directly involved in the conflict, slow down and focus on results instead of who’s right.
If you are the mediator for conflict resolution between coworkers, observe the discussion and help point out the common ground others may not see.
5. Collectively brainstorm solutions
When deciding how to handle workplace conflict, it can be tempting to problem-solve on your own. Sometimes, it feels easier to work independently rather than collaboratively. However, if you want to achieve a lasting resolution, you will need to motivate your team to get involved.
Brainstorm possible solutions together, and solicit input from everyone involved on the pros and cons of each option until you settle on a solution that feels comfortable to everyone. This will help all team members feel a sense of ownership that can help prevent future conflicts.
6. Create an action plan
Once you have created an open dialogue around workplace conflicts, it is time to resolve them. Just like any other work goal, this requires creating a concrete plan and following through.
Create an action plan and then act on it. It does not matter what the plan is, as long as you commit to it and resolve the conflict as a result.
7. Reflect on what you learned
All conflicts offer an opportunity to grow and become a better communicator. Identify what went well and what did not.
Work with your whole team to gather learnings from the conflict so you can avoid similar situations in the future.
