The advent of the cashless policy is a good one, but fraudsters have used it to defraud people and steal their money. It has even gone worse recently, considering the ongoing implementation of the Naira redesign policy.
At the moment, Nigerians have limited access to cash. The mobile transfer has been used only as a last resort. The number of transactions through this channel in the last two weeks has been phenomenal.
The challenge that comes with mobile money transfers through either USSD codes or banking apps is the proliferation of fake credit alerts. There is also the challenge of not receiving credit alerts due to network issues.
Cashless Nigeria is a policy established in 2012 by the Central Bank of Nigeria to curb excesses in cash handling in the Nigerian federation.
It established cash handling fees on daily withdrawals exceeding N500,000 for individuals and N3,000,000 for corporate bodies (N3, 000,000.00).
Fake transfer alerts are unfortunately common in Nigeria and can be delivered via text messages, emails, and mobile banking apps.
Scammers use these bogus alerts to trick victims into believing they have received a payment, and then demand that goods or services be delivered before the payment clears.
As a result, the victim may lose their goods or services without receiving payment.
However, here are the common ways to spot a fake money transfer:
- Examine the sender’s email or phone number. Scammers frequently use fake email addresses or phone numbers that look exactly like legitimate ones, so double-check the sender’s information.
- Check for spelling and grammar errors. Genuine banks and financial institutions typically have stringent quality control procedures in place, and their communications are unlikely to contain obvious errors.
- Check with the sender to confirm the transaction. If you receive a money transfer alert from someone you know, call or message them to confirm that the transfer was initiated by them.
- Don’t click on any links or download any attachments. Scammers may include malicious links or attachments in their fake alerts that can install malware on your device or steal your personal information.
- Check your account balance. If you receive a money transfer alert but your account balance doesn’t reflect the transfer, it’s likely a fake.
- Be cautious with urgent requests. Scammers may try to put you under pressure to act immediately, but legitimate money transfers typically take a few business days to process.
- Use reliable sources. If you have any doubts about the legitimacy of a money transfer alert, contact your bank or financial institution directly using a phone number or email address from their official website.
