MTN Ghana has cautioned Mobile Money agents to be circumspect in their operations as any agent found culpable of engaging in fraudulent activities will have their contracts terminated.

Speaking on the sidelines of the MTN mobile money award ceremony, the General Manager of MTN Momo Operations, Eli Hini, intimated that, fraudulent Momo transactions affects the sustainability of business in general.

Mr. Hini further expressed the telecommunication giant’s intent to collaboratively partner with the police and other security agencies to ensure perpetrators are dealt with accordingly.

“We have continued education around fraud. It’s very important for us, if there is anything that gives me sleepless night, it is that and we have over the period invested heavily both in education, technology solutions and also ensuring that we deal with these fraudsters in a very quick manner.

“This we have been able to achieve through collaborations with the Ghana Police who have assisted us in doing arrest across the country. We’ve done over fifty arrests and these arrests involves multiple individuals; and so, a lot has been done”.

Similarly, he urged customers to be cautious with their security codes and other sensitive information on their mobile money account in order to safeguard and avert fraudsters from accessing their monies.

“What we want our customers also to do, is to take some responsibility because it cannot be just a one way thing and I keep saying that if you have a very good security system, there’s always an access point and if that access point is weak, that is where the fraudsters will come through.

“So, our customers are not supposed to share their pin, our customers are not supposed to discuss mobile money on the phone. If you have any concern, call our call center or walk to our branch and nobody can do a transaction on your behalf”.

The National Deputy Public Relations officer for Mobile Money Agents Association, Joshua Edmundson, commended MTN for making agents a priority by providing a life insurance.

“We commend them for that… we think it’s a good start but it should not end there. There are more they could add to it because we think that, the package though it’s good, I think we could still do more”.

He further entreated mobile money agents across the country to join the association to enable it protect their interest against fraud and robbers.

“I would like to encourage mobile money agents across Ghana to make sure they go onto our website to register with us because the truth of the matter is, now you hear so much insecurity in the system; people are defrauded, armed robbers are always on us. Because now, the banking system is gradually changing and now we are going to the e-banking and the mobile money agents, we become the facilitators, we are the main people that will make this a reality.

“So, we are encouraging them to join the Association so that we can be able to protect their interests as well as to be able to help each other in times of need”.