Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of Mobile Money Limited, Godwin Tamakloe, has refuted claims that mobile money service personnel are complicit in the increasing cases of fraud affecting customers across the country. Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Friday, May 2, Tamakloe dismissed suspicions that mobile money agents or staff have access to customer PINS and work hand-in-hand with fraudsters to defraud users.
“Our staff do not have access to your pins. The PIN is system-generated. It is not that somebody sits there and says that I want to reset my PIN and they key in the figures, and then it comes to you. It is a button, so when you click on that button, the system sends an SMS to you, and the PIN is in the message,” he explained.
The officer emphasised that the system is built to protect customer data, and users have full control over their PINS, and such a structure makes it impossible for the service person to have access to the secret PIN. “We even go ahead to tell you that you can change the PIN to any number that you want, so when the system gives you the number, you can change it to the number that you want,” he added.
His clarification comes amid growing concerns from the public over the safety of mobile money wallets, following a surge in fraud reports.
On April 16, a viral video of a woman crying and claiming to have lost over GHS 11,000 to scammers gained massive traction on social media. The woman insisted she had never shared her PIN with anyone, raising fears that internal workers might be leaking customer information.
In response, MTN Ghana also issued a statement, strongly denying that money can be withdrawn from MoMo wallets without the customer compromising their information.
The telecom giant reiterated that its systems remain secure, and no funds can be accessed unless the customer voluntarily or unknowingly provides their credentials to fraudsters.
By: Patricia Boakye
