Judge recounts attempted MoMo scam on him moments after jailing scammer 

The Assin Fosu District Court Judge, Mr Abdul Majid Iliasu, has revealed that suspected mobile-money (MoMo) fraudsters tried to scam him moments after he had sentenced someone for a similar offence.

The judge mentioned the incident while presiding over a kidnapping case involving four suspects accused of abducting 30yearold Bismark Amoh, who was reportedly held in Kumasi from Sunday, September 6 to Friday, September 11 for an alleged MoMo fraud.

One of the kidnapping suspects is also linked to another MoMo fraud allegation.

According to Mr Iliasu, the attempted scam occurred as he was leaving court and an unknown caller told him he had accidentally transferred money into his account and asked him to return it.

A text message purporting to come from a telecommunications provider confirming the transfer followed the call.

However, he said a closer check showed the message was fake and the Judge recognised the approach as a common MoMo fraud tactic.

“The person called and said he had mistakenly sent money to my account. I checked and there was a message purporting to be from the telecommunications service.

“After further checks, I realised they were fraudsters because that was their modus operandi,” he said, adding wryly that the attempt showed fraudsters had no respect for anybody, no matter one's status in society.

The Judge indicated that the sentence he handed down in the earlier MoMo case was meant to deter others.

He also expressed concern at the rising electronic-transaction crimes in the Assin Fosu area and urged the Ghana Police Service and cybersecurity authorities to step up efforts to identify and prosecute perpetrators.

GNA