Criminal syndicate defrauding MTN customers

Hanno Labuschagne

Hanno Labuschagne

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Criminal syndicate defrauding MTN customers

An internal forensic investigation by MTN South Africa into suspected fraud has revealed a criminal syndicate working to defraud MTN and its customers.

MTN worked with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation cybercrime unit, known as the Hawks, in a covert investigation to identify the criminals.

MTN SA’s executive for corporate affairs Jacqui O'Sullivan said they gained extensive insights into the modus operandi of the syndicate.
 
The company has also initiated individual engagements with the 1,914 customers who it knows to have been compromised by this syndicate. Those customers are all receiving letters and follow-up calls from MTN.

A dedicated customer support team is rectifying unauthorised transactions on the affected MTN clients’ accounts.
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At least they are being proactive.
 
Surely these have been at it long before 2020. And it probably isn't just compromised creds sure some of their employees/partners are active participants of the criminality.

Not sure why they don't implement and 2FA logon system where you use both a password and maybe swipe of finger because then people can't claim their details for stolen. And make it so employees have to keep verifying even when logged on.
 
The company has also initiated individual engagements with the 1,914 customers who it knows to have been compromised by this syndicate. Those customers are all receiving letters and follow-up calls from MTN.

BS. They don't care. I had my sim swapped by merely the criminal sending an email to MTN. That's all it takes. The criminals don't even have to go into a store. One single email with fake information and not a real address and that they are the owner.
 
R13... said:
Surely these have been at it long before 2020. And it probably isn't just compromised creds sure some of their employees/partners are active participants of the criminality.

Not sure why they don't implement and 2FA logon system where you use both a password and maybe swipe of finger because then people can't claim their details for stolen. And make it so employees have to keep verifying even when logged on.
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Boggles the mind.
 
Even if they are kicked out of the system, who tells you they did install backdoors on the system? A hacker ALWAYS installs backdoors into systems, to later get back into the system.
 
The circumstances leading to the compromised credentials are still being investigated. It currently points to a failure to protect user credentials and potential insider involvement.
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Not potential insider involvement. Definite insider involvement. MTN databases of clients have been in circulation for many years. Updated versions were available as well. Start your investigations inside to root out the causes of this.
 
Yeah I'd definitely imagine thats internal xD lol. They just getting a taste of their own ****.
 
When we had phones stolen during a bag snatch in Canal Walk, we went straight to MTN and their agent laughed at us for our phones stolen. They said their system is offline and they dont feel like helping. Only lunch time the next day could they stop it (another agent at another branch did this). Immediately a R1300 deduction went off our bank account (the illegal calls that was made in 1 night) MTN refused to refund us even though it was due to their technical issues (we went to 5 branches same issue - the system to block offline.

The following day after the money deducted we closed our MTN Cellphone accounts and paid a hefty penalty.

We will never ever use MTN again and our entire family refuse to use MTN again.

Ie my brother asked MTN to switch his roaming to sms only. They didnt and he discovered when he got off the place and immediately turned off his cellphone. They sent through a video ad to him. That ad set him back R14000 which they demanded he paid even though they didnt do what he asked them to do.

MTN sucks like nothing on the planet honestly.
 
So doing what MTN has been doing for years with their WASPs.
 
Corelli said:
When we had phones stolen during a bag snatch in Canal Walk, we went straight to MTN and their agent laughed at us for our phones stolen. They said their system is offline and they dont feel like helping. Only lunch time the next day could they stop it (another agent at another branch did this). Immediately a R1300 deduction went off our bank account (the illegal calls that was made in 1 night) MTN refused to refund us even though it was due to their technical issues (we went to 5 branches same issue - the system to block offline.

The following day after the money deducted we closed our MTN Cellphone accounts and paid a hefty penalty.

We will never ever use MTN again and our entire family refuse to use MTN again.

Ie my brother asked MTN to switch his roaming to sms only. They didnt and he discovered when he got off the place and immediately turned off his cellphone. They sent through a video ad to him. That ad set him back R14000 which they demanded he paid even though they didnt do what he asked them to do.

MTN sucks like nothing on the planet honestly.
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Oh absolutely. My personal experiences are similar in terms of in-store staff at MTN from Menlyn Mall, Woodlands mall and Atterbury Mart.

Rude, Arrogant, Ignorant, Incompetent, spiteful, lazy and have a very poor knowledge base. That would be a good list to describe most consultants. There is just always that one gem that gets your problems sorted but most are the way described.

Luckily one deals with them rarely if ever. The day-to-day network is just so much better compared to Vodacom that Vodacom will just frustrate you more in the end overall.
 
Once POPAI comes into effect, (July 1st 2021) my understanding is that the consequences of such a breach would be much more catastrophic from a legal perspective, for any 'operator' involved.

POPAI states (as I understand it) that service providers themselves can be held liable for damages relating to breaches, of their operators of choice. What then if for example a company is reselling/providing a mobile router with MTN SIM, becomes compromised?

Or a small mobile phone shop reselling MTN pay-as-you-go SIM’s, whose customer is compromised as a result of such a breach. Under POPAI, is said small shop, as an operator, not then potentially also liable for damages?

Another example; Customer using Microsoft, purchased via a CSP, on behalf of / managed by an IT Company, has their Microsoft Admin tenant compromised as a result of said MTN breach, via SIM swap/access to needed OTP, is every ‘operator’ in this chain not then potentially liable under POPAI?
 
Hanno Labuschagne said:
Criminal syndicate defrauding MTN customers

An internal forensic investigation by MTN South Africa into suspected fraud has revealed a criminal syndicate working to defraud MTN and its customers.

MTN worked with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation cybercrime unit, known as the Hawks, in a covert investigation to identify the criminals.

MTN SA’s executive for corporate affairs Jacqui O'Sullivan said they gained extensive insights into the modus operandi of the syndicate.
Click to expand...
This is your daily reminder that MTN includes the proceeds of fraud in their earnings, and only resolves airtime deduction fraud when the customer notices the charges on their statement.
 
Let's see if they really succeed in catching them, and if they do catch them, will it be real news and actual camera footage shown on TV news channels, or will it be just a story!

... what about the WASPs, and the scammers, MTN Gamer Plus and other, which say they are not affiliated with MTN! They keep on stealing your money, by their auto-activation subscription BS, and which you have NO control of it at all. It keeps on auto-subscribing.
THEY ARE SCAMMERS
 
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