MTN South Africa said it made a major breakthrough in a One Time Pin (OTP) scam syndicate.
The telecommunications giant, said in collaboration with Crime Intelligence, Commercial Crimes, and other Crime Prevention units of the South African Police Services (SAPS), key individuals were arrested this past weekend who are believed to be involved in the syndicate.
This came after a successful search and seizure warrant on properties believed to be headquarters of these OTP scam syndicates in Eldorado Park, Soweto.
The raid was a result of a coordinated effort by various stakeholders including anonymous tip-offs.
“Upon the investigation, MTN and the Commercial Crimes Unit obtained search warrants to raid five properties in Eldorado Park believed to be associated with front businesses, suppliers, call centres and operations of an OTP scam syndicate. In most incidents, these criminals, claim to be MTN call centre agents. Their modus operandi includes requesting the customer’s security details under the pretence that they were blocking the processing of a fraudulent SIM swap request that was being made on the subscriber’s number without their knowledge or authorisation,” MTN said in a statement.
The scammers would then use the customer’s responses, which they obtained during the call, to access the mobile and/or banking applications to transfer funds illegally.
“This is a major milestone for MTN and a victory for all our customers who are regularly being targeted by these criminals. OTP scams are among the leading scam tactics used by the criminals. MTN would like to applaud the members of SAPS Crime Intelligence and Commercial Crimes unit for their unwavering support in ensuring that these criminals are brought to the law,” MTN further stated.
“Identity or subscription fraud has unfortunately become a threat impacting network operators and customers around the world, as criminals constantly work to find new ways to circumvent fraud prevention systems. At MTN, we aim to protect customers from fraudulent transactions that often originate elsewhere, often through identity theft. The OTP scam is one of the prevalent fraudulent tactics in the telecommunication industry. Fraud in telecommunication industry often appears in a cyclical manner, based on what syndicates are targeting, at any given time,” MTN said.
MTN added that it put several measures in place to mitigate the impact of OTP scams.
MTN also said it has previously communicated to customers that it would not contact customers from its call centre to block the processing of a SIM swap request or to request for OTPs.
“We urge all our customers not to respond to unsolicited calls and requests for their security details from an unknown number. Communication to customers is usually carried via platforms such as social media posts and press statements."
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