Macra admits rising mobile fraud cases

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) has admitted a rise in mobile money fraud and says it will engage an extra gear to protect consumers.

In an interview on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Consumer Rights Day commemorations in Blantyre, Macra director general Daud Suleman said the regulator has taken the lead in a special task force that has brought together various stakeholders to find a solution to reduce mobile fraud.

He said: “Digital advancements have brought in new challenges as much as it has brought in opportunities. It is, therefore, our duty as Macra to highlight some of these challenges as well as offer solutions to the problems to protect the consumers.

“By opening the digital economy space we have, we have opened up the space for thieves and fraudsters to also digitally manipulate innocent  Malawians. But Macra stands to protect the consumers and growth of the digital economy in the country.

Suleman said there are a number of initiatives which the Macra is adopting to make this malpractice history.

He said: “We have adopted the central equipment identification registry which will require that SIM cards and handsets are registered to minimise fraud and protect consumers.”

Meanwhile, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama), while touting the numerous benefits of digital financial platforms, lamented the ever-rising challenges, saying this is negatively affecting consumers.

Said Cama executive director John Kapito in a statement: “We have noted increased cases of fraud on both mobile money and other digital financial platforms and it requires consumers to be equipped with knowledge on how to avoid such negative transactions.”

He  appealed to government to put in place strong regulatory systems to ensure that only genuine and traceable business transactions are done online and with reputable institutions to allow the growth of these new digital financial technologies that have potential to increase financial inclusion in the country.

Suleman, however, admitted that Macra has not been in a position to synchronise records in as far as identity card (ID) copying is concerned.

He said: “Legally in Malawi, there should be one reference point as far as national IDs are concerned which is the National Registration Bureau [NRB]. Therefore, highlighting the need and relevance of NRB in this ecosystem is one of the key issues we are undertaking.

“We are moving towards a position where all National IDs will be referenced at one place and that is the NRB. Once we do that we will have dealt with the part of the problem which is people use duplicate IDs to register or using a dead person’s ID to register a SIM card.”

Lately, mobile phone users have fallen victim to fraudsters who have tricked the innocent Malawians by either calling or messaging them, advising them that they either have won various prizes and need to send either mobile wallet pin numbers or a certain amount of money to redeem their prizes.

This year, the World Consumer Rights Day, which falls on March 15, is being held under the theme Fair Digital Finance.