Summary
This comes after a message circulated on social media in which an anonymous person claimed the disappearance of Ush2.7M off their Mobile Money wallet.
MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd has assured the members of the public about the safety of the mobile money platform amid allegations that the system has been infiltrated and money stolen from people’s accounts.
This comes after a message circulated on social media in which an anonymous person claims the disappearance of Ush2.7M off their Mobile Money wallet, alluding to insiders in the company having access to customers’ secret PINs.
“MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd would like to assure all its thirteen million active customers that their Mobile Money PIN (Personal Identification Number) is secret information inaccessible to anybody inside or outside the company, except the customer,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
“We appeal to all our customers to follow the golden rules of security when transacting using MTN Mobile Money,” the company said.
According to MTN, under no circumstances should a customer share their PIN, code or the One-Time Password (OTP) with anyone.
“Do not use simple PIN combinations that can easily be guessed; e.g., 0-0-0-0-0 or 1-2-3-4-5; if a customer is currently using one, we urge them to change the PIN immediately,” MTN said.
MTN said it will call its customers using Telephone number 031 212 0000 only.
“Should anybody call a customer on behalf of the Company with an alternative number, please consider them to be a fraudster and call our customer care helpline 100 for confirmation,” the company said.
“If our customers follow the above 3 golden rules, nobody can have access to their Mobile Money wallet without the customers entering the 5-digit secret PIN into their phone themselves explicitly or unconsciously,” it added.
MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd said it is regulated by the Bank of Uganda and is managed to the highest international standards of good corporate governance with zero tolerance to fraud.
“The company has invested heavily in state-of-the-art secure mobile money platforms and robust cyber security IT-systems to ensure safety and security of our Mobile Money system and customer data. We ask all our customers to remain vigilant and immediately contact us via our customer service helplines in case of any attempt by fraudsters to access their Mobile Money wallets,” the company said.