The presence of mobile money shops or PoS agents on almost every Nigerian street has greatly contributed to the rise of debit card fraud, particularly in the past five years. Although this is not to say that mobile money shops in Nigeria are set up with the intent to steal from those who patronize them. However, there have been numerous reports about how mobile money shop agents/salespersons connive with street boys supposedly “Yahoo! boys” in sweeping clean, the bank accounts of customers who used their services, particularly those who made withdrawals. There have been reports that shop agents who sit behind desks are prone to engage in this illicit deal with fraudsters in exchange for some percentage.
In order for them to complete their fraud, all they need are your card details which consist of your 16 digit card number, your card validity details and Security (Card Verification Value) number. To get this in seconds, PoS agents have been reported to capture customers card details with their camera phones in less than 5 seconds while trying to help them initiate their original transaction then perpetrate their evil act immediately after the customers have left or most times, in the dead of the night when their victims are fast asleep and unaware of what was happening or about to. The latter is often executed by cybercriminals with sound knowledge of websites that do not require OTP to make purchases after which proceeds from the transaction will be shared based on the agreed percentage.
A report by Vanguard in November 2020 revealed how a woman got a debit alert shortly after patronizing a POS agent. An excerpt from the article reads:
Her words, “I was travelling to Ebonyi State and decided to do PoS withdrawal from an agent in Marina, Lagos. I used my Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card to withdraw N6,000. Throughout the next day, I started receiving debit alerts of sums ranging from N30,000 to N50,000. I called my husband if he was making any transactions from the account and he said no. I quickly remembered that I withdrew from a PoS agent in Lagos. ‘‘Luckily, I was with the printed slip. I called the Police and on getting to the agent stand in Lagos, the agent felled to the ground immediately he saw me. By then he had withdrawn N250,000 from my account. He returned my money and was arrested. Some of his victims were not lucky to get their money back.”
It is advisable not to use your ATM cards if you decide to patronize street mobile money agents. Options such as bank transfers and pay IDs or pay codes are less riskier compared to using ATM cards.
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