"Shine Your Eyes- No Fall Mugu": NCC Warns Nigerians, Exposes Fraudsters' Tricks as Over 20,000 Fall Victims

• NCC has revealed that the commission has received 20,000 complaints from Nigerians who have fallen victim to telecoms fraud
• The commission reveals that many of the fraudsters pose as telecom operators or loan sharks to deceive people and extract money from them
• NCC wants Nigerians to be vigilant and exercise caution when dealing with suspicious phone calls, messages, or requests

In a startling revelation, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has received an alarming number of complaints from over 20,000 Nigerians who have fallen victim to telecom fraud.

Ayanbanji Ojo, the Head of Consumers Affairs at the NCC, disclosed this during a telecom consumers sensitization program held at the spare parts market in Gate, Ibadan.

Vanguard reports that he expressed concern about the rising number of financial scams targeting unsuspecting individuals.

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Ojo further stressed the importance of educating the public, especially traders, about the various fraudulent activities in the telecom space.

He said:

"Our market people are our telecom consumers, and without them, we cannot engage in this business.

"They deserve to know what is going on. Today, we are talking about 'Shine Your Eyes- No Fall Mugu,' which means there are so many financial frauds going on through the telecom, and we want to educate our people, particularly the traders."

Ojo also emphasized the vulnerability of traders to telecom-related fraud and the need to protect them from falling victim to scams.

He noted that the NCC has received many complaints from individuals who have lost money to fraudsters posing as telecom operators.

The head of Consumers Affairs further explained:

"We need to educate our consumers all the time. We are now in the sustainability of the telecom industry, and if we don't sustain the telecom consumers, there is nothing we can do."

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He also added that the commission on a daily basis inundated with new complaints from the public on being defrauded.

Method of how fraudsters work

Ojo noted that one particular method employed by fraudsters is posing as loan sharks, tricking people into believing that someone has taken out a loan and using this ruse to extract money.

"How did they get your number, and how did they know you are a friend of the person?. "These are the kinds of things we are trying to protect, and to protect the people, we have to educate them."

MTN, Glo, Airtel secures govt approval to disconnect banks' USSD codes

Meanwhile, in another report, Nigerian telecommunications companies, including MTN, GLO, and Airtel, have received approval from the NCC.

This is because the banks have not paid their outstanding debts to the telcos for USSD services.

As a result, customers of these banks may be unable to perform USSD transactions until the issue is resolved.

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Source: Legit.ng