By Priscilla Ntaba
Blantyre, Mana: Chileka Police Station in Blantyre said it has registered cases of mobile money fraud happening to operators despite measures to deal with such cases in the previous years.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Wednesday, Chileka Police Station Public Relations Officer, Jonathan Phillipo said they have indeed registered a number of cases from January to March at Kameza Roundabout and Chileka mobile money operators this year.
“We have not caught any culprits since mostly they use different sim cards to trick the agents, later they disable the sim cards so this has been a barrier to our investigations but we are trying our best to fight against such malpractices,” he said.
General Manager for TNM Mpamba Limited, Christopher Sukasuka said such cases are being reported to the company at a minimal rate than last year.
He said TNM has deployed some initiatives to prevent and manage money fraud which is happening to its company’s mobile money agents.
“We have put Mpamba controls, customer awareness, SIM swaps controls, fraud reporting hotlines and all incoming calls to agent numbers are barred; hence, hoping this malpractice will come to an end,” Sukasuka added.
A mobile money agent who fell victim to the thieves but opted for anonymity, said the tricksters come in various ways to steal money from the innocent operators, saying they either physically attack or use phone tricks that lead to give them the money.
“I was once hoodwinked; the thieve came personally in a black car wearing decent clothes looking like a man of God, did whatever he knows and he was given K60, 000,” he said, adding that the thief disappeared immediately after receiving the cash.
