Engage ZICT to curb mobile money fraud

EDITOR — It was enlightening reading your article titled, “Banks move to curb card fraud” as it proves that something is being done to protect the nation.

Our worry as Zimbabwe Information and Communication Technologies (ZICT) is that there is focus on the top end of our market — that is the individuals with bank accounts and cards.

From our research as ZICT we would like to advise stakeholders that the hardest hit part of our nation is the lower end of market — vendors, small to medium enterprises — that use mobile money mostly as a means of transacting.

This sector is mostly affected by mobile money transaction fraud.

These are mobile fake transactions which reflect on one’s mobile device as real transactions yet they are counterfeit.

What makes this kind of electronic fraud difficult is the fact that it is not defined within the laws of Zimbabwe, the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, to be precise. This is a criminal offence that an average law enforcement agent cannot understand.

As ZICT we know how these fraudulent activities are committed and are eager to educate and engage all stakeholders and law enforcement to fight this emerging version of cyber crimes.

This new phenomenon is hardly understood by an ordinary person on the streets and has the potential to completely destroy the confidence and trust in the use of mobile money if the nation is not properly educated.

Furthermore, we believe this kind of crime can one day paralyse the whole financial services if we continue to push it under the carpet.

With the advancement in technology and growth in mobile money use, it is time that institutions engage cyber experts to provide for system testing — though this will, of course, come at a fee. We pray and hope that all stakeholders accept and understand the challenges that the challenge faced by the nation is that of being 96 percent cashless.

Regards Eng. Jacob Kudzayi Mutisi ZICT Chairman