Judge recounts attempted MoMo scam after jailing scammer

An Assin Fosu District Court Judge has recounted an extraordinary incident in which suspected MoMo fraudsters allegedly attempted to scam him shortly after he had sentenced a person for a similar offence.

His Worship Abdul Majid Iliasu said the attempted fraud happened as he was leaving the court premises after proceedings.

The incident, according to the judge, involved the familiar tactic of claiming that money had been mistakenly transferred into a person’s account and asking the recipient to return it.

Fraudsters allegedly targeted judge after court

According to the judge, an unknown caller contacted him and claimed that he had accidentally sent money into the judge’s account.

The caller allegedly asked the judge to return the supposed funds.

Shortly after the call, the judge said he received a text message purportedly from a telecommunications service provider, apparently confirming that the alleged transfer had been made.

However, rather than acting immediately, the judge checked the information more carefully.

His further checks, he said, revealed that the message was fake.

“I realised they were fraudsters”

Recounting the incident, Judge Iliasu said the approach immediately raised suspicion because it matched a common method used by MoMo fraudsters.

“After further checks, I realised they were fraudsters because that was their modus operandi,” he said.

The judge’s experience highlighted how fraudsters can attempt to exploit the trust of mobile money users by creating the impression that a genuine transaction has taken place.

The irony after sentencing a MoMo fraudster

What made the incident particularly striking was its timing.

The suspected scam attempt occurred shortly after the judge had sentenced Prince Mensah, who had been convicted of defrauding mobile money vendor Alice Fofie of GH¢37,000.

The court imposed a fine of GH¢9,000, with the judge indicating that the punishment was intended to deter others from engaging in similar offences.

Moments later, the judge himself became the target of what he believed was an attempted MoMo scam.

“No respect to anybody”

The judge appeared amused by the irony of the situation but used the incident to highlight the growing threat posed by electronic transaction-related crimes.

He remarked that suspected fraudsters appeared willing to target anyone, regardless of their position in society.

“These guys show no respect to anybody, no matter your status in society,” he said.

Judge calls for tougher action

Judge Iliasu also expressed concern about the increasing incidence of electronic transaction-related crimes in the Assin Fosu area.

He called on the Ghana Police Service and relevant cybersecurity authorities to intensify efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute perpetrators of MoMo fraud and other electronic transaction-related offences.

The judge’s comments came while he was presiding over a separate kidnapping case involving four suspects accused of abducting 30-year-old Bismark Amoh.

Amoh was reportedly held in Kumasi from September 6 to September 11, with one of the suspects also linked to a separate allegation involving MoMo fraud.

A warning to MoMo users

The incident serves as another reminder of the need for mobile money users to verify transactions directly through their accounts before responding to claims of mistaken transfers.

A text message appearing to come from a telecommunications provider should not, on its own, be treated as proof that money has been received.

For the Assin Fosu judge, the attempted scam provided a striking real-life example of the very offence he had just been dealing with in court—and a reminder that MoMo fraudsters can target anyone, regardless of status.