Mobile money users are being warned about a growing scam that could leave them losing money within seconds, and all it may take is saying your phone number out loud at a mobile money vendor.
The scam is a new twist on mobile money fraud and targets people withdrawing cash from agents.
Under the normal withdrawal process, a customer visits a mobile money agent, provides their phone number, receives a prompt on their phone, approves the transaction, and then collects cash from the same agent.
However, fraudsters are reportedly exploiting this routine using a coordinated two-person method.
Here is how the alleged scam works
When a customer arrives to withdraw money, the agent asks them to say their phone number aloud, as is common at many mobile money points.
Unknown to the customer, the agent may already be on a call or initiate a call with another person,
that is a second fraudster located elsewhere.
As soon as the customer mentions the phone number, the second person immediately initiates a withdrawal transaction from another mobile money terminal on your number.
The victim then receives a transaction approval prompt on their phone. Believing it is from the agent standing in front of them, you then enter their PIN to approve the transaction.
When the customer turns to collect cash, the agent in front claims no transaction has been completed on their end. Since the withdrawal happened through a different agent ID, the victim may struggle to immediately understand what happened.
Read more on what to do on our website
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Uncle Ebo Whyte writes:
I once worked with a pharmaceutical company, and one of the surest ways to meet sales targets was to sell to major hospitals because they bought in large quantities and paid on time. But to do that, you first had to register as a supplier and then wait to be invited to bid whenever the hospital needed items.
After months of trying, I finally met the chief pharmacist of one big hospital. He was one of the most decent and honest men I had ever met, and he helped us register as a supplier. A week later, we received an invitation to submit our bid, and we worked hard to meet the deadline. Completed bids were to be dropped into a secure box, and no one was supposed to access them until the official opening day.
But about a week before the bids were to be opened, I received a call from a member of the procurement committee. He asked if I had “factored the committee into my pricing.” I said I thought the committee was simply looking for the best deal for the hospital.
He laughed and said, “The chief pharmacist who helped you register doesn’t like money. But the rest of us do.”
He then explained that each member of the committee controlled a category of items and chose which supplier would win it. When he mentioned the items I had bid for, I asked how he knew, since the bid box had not been opened. He laughed and said, “Really, Mr. Whyte? This is Ghana.”
Then he said, “Your prices will win you every item you bid for this time. But because you did not factor us into your pricing, this will be the last time you will ever be invited to bid.”
I thought he was joking. But I never received another invitation from that hospital until I left the pharmaceutical sector.
The second thing that must change if Ghana is to realize her fullest potential is what I call the ‘Non-System System’ (NSS).
The official system at that hospital was simple and transparent. But sitting on top of that efficient system was the Non-System System, where committee members had devised ways of manipulating the process to favour their preferred suppliers.
If you operate in Ghana, it is easy to conclude that there is no system here, that nothing works as it should. But that would be wrong. Ghana is actually a very structured country. The problem is that we run two systems at the same time: the beautiful, well-thought-out official system that public servants will outline to you, and above it, another system that we as a people have created, the Non-System System (NSS).
It is not official. Those who operate it will deny its existence. And yet it has become our default operating system in Ghana.
And if you do not play by its rules, you will be very frustrated, because nothing will work for you.
Take the filling station, for example. The official system is simple: you buy GHS100 worth of fuel, and the attendant gives you a receipt for GHS100. End of story.
But the Non-System System steps in.
You buy GHS100 worth of fuel and the attendant asks, “How much should I write on the receipt?”
So you say, “Make it GHS500.”
He writes GHS500. You tip him GHS20. You go back to the office, submit the receipt, and collect a refund for fuel you never bought. The attendant is happy. You are happy. And somewhere a boss is wondering why the company’s vehicles consume so much fuel.
Even in my own business, organising events, the Non-System System operates. It is so efficient that by the time you sell 10 tickets, the Non-System System has sold 50. The National Theatre can be full, yet the organizer can account for only 200 tickets in a 1,400-seater auditorium.
The Non-System System allows people to benefit personally from the service they are paid to offer. And no matter how tight the official system is, the Non-System System will always find a way to rig it for personal profit.
I do not know what it will take to dismantle it. But until we do, Ghana will remain a difficult country to operate in, especially for anyone who wants to play by the rules.
📌 Concerns Over NSA allowance Arrears 📌
Several service personnel who just completed their service including personnel from tertiary, nursing and teacher trainees some still have unpaid allowances for 5 months.
Kindly give attention to this matter.
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Hello John Dramani Mahama, the fight against galamsey has so far fallen short of expectations. After more than a year in power, illegal mining continues to operate with alarming boldness, while our rivers and lands suffer irreversible damage. This is no longer just an environmental issue; it is a national security concern. The time has come for decisive action and stronger accountability. Ghana deserves better. #StopGalamseyNow
Let me explain what this means so that you understand better.
In a hospital in Vietnam, a 12 year old girl was very sick with blood cancer (that's leukemia)
The cancer kept coming back, even after strong medicine and a special gift of blood cells from her dad was given to her.
Then the doctors decided to try something new called CAR-T treatment.
They took some of the girl's own fighter cells ( that's the ones that help fight sickness) out of her blood. They sent those cells to medical scientists in Taiwan.
When the cells arrived, these scientist gave the fighter cells a special lock that could find and stick only to the bad cancer cells.They made millions of these fighter cells and put them back into the girl through a little tube in her arm.
The fighters then went looking for the cancer, found it, grabbed it, and destroyed it.
After some hard days with fever and doctors watching her closely, all the cancer disappeared.
She became the first kid in Vietnam to get better this way. When other treatments didn't work, her own body, with a little help, became the hero that saved her. Now other sick kids and even adults alike might have this same chance too.
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This is an huge breakthrough in the medical world. And I'm glad that many lives would be saved. This would give so much closure and hope to victims of cancer or loved ones affected one way or the other by cancer.
This year already looks very promising and there's renewed hope.
This time, the hope can be felt, touched, smelt and seen very visibly.
The light at the end of the tunnel, is now at the entrance. Staring at us right in the face. And yessss we loving it!
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✍️ Vincent the Therapist
When the cedi was weak, you imported a car for $2500 and sold it for $10,000. Now you import same car for $1400 and still sell it for $12,000. The spirit in the black man is so ev!l and demonic and it cuts across.
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