Between January and June last year, a total of 41,894 cases of e-payment fraud valued at CFA578 million were recorded in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). 

Orange finances mobiles Senegal (OFMS) alone was the victim of 41,893 cases, making 99.9% of total frauds. According to BCEAO’s monitoring report on e-money payment services, as at 30 June 2019, most of frauds in OFMS consisted of the splitting of customer deposits into several transactions by a distributor in order to collect higher commissions. Cases of commission misappropriation from cash withdrawal transactions by distributors and splitting of merchant payments by the customer to benefit from telephone credit bonuses were also recorded.

Another electronic money institution within the WAEMU, Orange Money Côte d'Ivoire (OMCI), suffered a fraud on its internal accounts at the end of June 2019. Two unidentified individuals broke into the institution's platform twice and usurped internal user authorizations to validate transactions.

Initial investigations reveal that 6 distributor accounts and 415 end-customer accounts were affected by the fraud. this cost OMCI an estimated CFA449 million.

To deal with the situation, electronic money institutions have taken a number of measures, including blocking fraudsters' accounts and strengthening the security of technical platforms.

Chamberline Moko