A security guard, accused of having emptied the mobile money account of a company manager, appeared before the Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) on Tuesday March 18, 2025. He was charged with Internet fraud after withdrawing FCFA 1,039,000 by impersonating his employer.
It all began when the complainant, who was in charge of a company, noticed that his telephone used for financial transactions had disappeared. After several hours of searching, the device was found in a remote location, but in the meantime, all the money had been withdrawn.
“I had 1,039,000 FCFA in my mobile money account, and it had all been withdrawn,” the victim testified in court. His suspicions were soon aroused by the company’s security guard, who ended up confessing to the crime after being questioned.
A well-honed technique
The accused explained how he had gained access to his employer’s mobile money account. According to investigations, he used a combination of USSD codes and a telephone trick to obtain the necessary information.
“First he dialed *124*2# to display the account information, then he called the GSM network’s customer service, pretending to be me”, the complainant recounted. Thanks to the information he had about his employer, the security guard was able to convince the caller and obtain the account PIN code.
Once he had the code, he made two successive withdrawals:
- fCFA 800,000 for the first withdrawal
- fCFA 239,000 for the second
A worrying security flaw
Faced with the ease with which the accused was able to obtain his employer’s PIN code, the court expressed its surprise. The Public Prosecutor’s Office felt it was necessary to investigate the case further by summoning a GSM network manager to gain a better understanding of the security flaws that enabled this fraudulent act.
Pending further investigation, the case was adjourned until April 29, 2025. As for the accused, he remains under a committal order and faces a heavy sentence for Internet fraud and identity theft.