Leading telecommunication service provider, MTN Ghana, has assured its stakeholders of that the privacy of its customers remains a top priority in the wake of a massive cybersecurity incident that has affected about 5700 customers. Although the company wasn’t able to state what may have caused the data breach it noted that investigations have begun to ascertain the full extent of the incident. They are working with leading cybersecurity experts and conducting forensic assessments into any impact to the MTN system in line with established security protocols.

As the dominant player in the telecommunication sector in the country, the MTN network has seen fraudulent activity on its mobile money (momo) product with several of its customers reporting that they receive unsolicited messages from fraudsters requesting that they input their PIN for cash withdrawal the customers have not initiated. Others have also encountered similar incidences where they have received frantic phone calls from the fraudsters purporting to have initiated a withdrawal request that needs the unsuspecting customer to input their PIN. Narrating his ordeal to Ceditalk, this MTN customer who prefers to remain anonymous said he lost a sum of GH¢3,000 to momo fraud in March this year while attending a funeral in Accra. According to this customer, he received prompt on his mobile phone requesting that he input his PIN for a cash withdrawal which he obliged without paying attention to the message that had appeared on his phone. In one day, he had given away his PIN to two fraudulent withdrawal requests that were received at separate time intervals. The customer realised he had been defrauded to the tune of GH¢3000 later in the day but it was too late. However, for the 5700 customers affected in the data breach, MTN has indicated it will contact each of them individually.

The company further urged its customers to remain vigilant and follow regular security measures, as follows;

▪ To mitigate any fraudulent consequences, a fraud alert can be placed on an individual’s credit report at any of the major credit bureaus.
▪ Keep MTN, MoMo and banking apps and devices updated.
▪ Use strong, unique passwords for accounts and change them regularly.
▪ Be cautious of unexpected messages and do not click on suspicious links.
▪ Do not disclose information such as passwords, PINs and OTP when asked to do so by phone, text message or email.
▪ Activate multifactor authentication where available.

In a related development, the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations has caused an investigation into the MTN cybersecurity breach to “determine the extent of the breach and ensure that necessary measures are taken to protect customer data”, it said in a statement. The Ministry further stated that it is working with the Cyber Security Authority, National Communications Authority and the Data Protection Commission and it will ensure that affected customers are contacted in line with data protection laws of Ghana.

“The Ministry is working to establish if there are any breaches on the part of the Mobile Network Operator. The Ministry urges all customers to remain calm as we work together to resolve the issue and keep the public updated.”, the statement concluded