Earlier this year, Fortune Uwitije received a message and later a call from someone who told her that he had a patient at a hospital and had mistakenly sent money to her mobile money account. As an MTN agent, she became suspicious and first checked if it was true. “When I checked the SMS, she said. I found out that it wasn’t true. Then the person called me again and I told him that I didn’t receive their money and refused to send them any. They stopped calling.” Something almost like that happened to Martin Bugingo, a motor taxi driverst based in Kigali, one day. He received a call and someone told him that he had mistakenly sent money to his Mobile Money account and was an agent working in Kibungo, Ngoma District. He said they asked him to revert the money, pushing him to do so before MTN can't stop his account. In a few seconds, he received another call from a different number and they told him the same thing. “I checked my phone, shared Bugingo. And saw a message that I received Rwf 60,000. They told me to walk to an agent without cutting off the call. When I reached an agent, they sent me a number registered under the names of a woman. “I told an agent how things were, he continued. Then, I told him to send the money to the number I was given. An agent told me he did, but he didn’t because he knew what was happening. A few seconds later, Bugingo thought about what just happened and realised that the number that called wasn’t MTN’s since he knew it was 100. The agent was a good person and didn't send the money. Those are some of the examples that show that there are cybercrimes in Rwanda, especially phishing. In all cases of phishing, malicious actors ensure there is an incentive or sense of urgency to ensure users do not take time to reflect, but act quickly and without caution. As part of an awareness campaign “Be Safe Online”, the National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA) on the afternoon of October 14, organised an outreach at Nyabugogo Taxi Park where hundreds gathered. The event was meant to serve as a platform for the institution and its partners to reach out to the general public to raise awareness about cybersecurity best practices and how to protect the privacy of their personal data. The event was graced by a big cloud of hundreds of people, enjoying music, quiz and incentives, and hearing from different representatives. Addressing the crowd, Paul Mutabazi from Rwanda Computer Security Incident Response Team (Rw-CSIRT) at NCSA urged people to double think before taking any decision online, preventing themselves from being stolen money. He tackled how one can prevent their phone from hackers by avoiding clicking on things they don’t know, especially when being told that they have become lucky winners to receive prizes. Mutabazi also advised the public to lock their phones with passwords, making it hard to whoever tries to enter it. Jessica Natukunda who works in Cybercrime Division of Rwanda Investigation Board (RIB) urged the public to turn down whoever calls them pretending they are from MTN or Airtel asking them to send money. She also urged them not to share their WhatsApp verification code for one can steal and use it in crimes, adding that those with online friends should avoid sending nudes for they can be used as tools to get money or something else from them in exchange of not sharing them with their close friends or the public. Talking about shopping online, Natukunda urged they crowd to verify who they are sending money to by asking if they have offices and checking if they are not scammers. She added: “You should think before going for anything you see on internet. And once you factsany issue, you can approach any nearest branch of RIB or the headquarters or dial toll free 166 or 9009.. MTN representative urged the crowd to keep their PIN safe and secure by not sharing it with anyone and changing it at least once in a month just in case someone might have spotted it. He also advised them not to use PIN one can easily guess like their birthday, their family member's birthday, one repetitive number, etc. The 'Be Safe Online' campaign will proceed across the country until October 31.
