Mobile Money Scam (Abafere Ba Mobile Money)
I first encountered mobile money fraud back in 2014. I had just acquired a new SIM card, hadn’t even made five calls in total, and suddenly, I received a call from this dude claiming he had mistakenly sent money to my Airtel Money account. He boldly said the funds were meant to cover someone’s hospital bills.
“I haven’t received anything,” I told him.
“Check your SMS,” he replied.
Within seconds, a message appeared reading that I had received several hundred Ugandan shillings. Something felt off, but I decided to play along.
The scammer then asked how long it would take me to reach a mobile money agent to withdraw the money. I said a few minutes. He asked if the agent could afford to cash out that amount, implying it was a large sum. I told him it’s a small mobile money agent, probably with little float. Based on that, he pressured me to keep it secret and suggested I instead use my cash to send him something small, supposedly to buy some food for the patient. Thanking me for being “trustworthy,” he said we would later discuss how much of the so-called mistaken transfer I should send back, and how much I could keep.
It didn’t make any sense. And it never does. These scammers are good at creating fast-paced conversations packed with urgent questions, leaving you little time to think.
When I refused to send him any money and told him outright he was a fraud, he exploded with insults, then struck me with a line that would later prompt this article.
“I’ve been scamming people before you were even born.”
Fast forward to 2021. Living remotely in the southern division of Kampala, and for about a year, I had been using the same mobile money agent. One day, for no apparent reason, I chose to use a different agent to make a withdrawal transaction, only to receive a scammer call a few days later. This incident got me thinking, how do they get your phone number and, at times, even personal information?
Here’s what I suspect (How the Bafere get your contacts and personal information)
Back in 2014, the scam call came just days after I had registered my new line. Judging the book by its cover, the person who registered it didn’t seem trustworthy. In 2021, the new agent I used didn’t come off as genuine either. While many believe fraudsters work inside telecom companies, which might be partly true, there’s a stronger possibility that some mobile money agents ku ground are involved. The roadside agents or sometimes established businesses with permanent addresses you use for mobile money transactions, and where you even entrust copies of your national ID and passport photos when registering a SIM card. What if they’re the ones leaking your details to scammers who call weeks or months later? The responsibility is on you to stay alert.
While mobile money scam tactics vary, some pretend you’ve won a prize in an ongoing telecom promotion, others send fake or misleading texts hoping to catch you just as you’re about to send money to someone, along with many other tricks to take your money. These are the red flags you should always watch out for.
If you ever receive a call from a personal number starting with 07 or +2567, and the caller presents themselves as [name] from Airtel Uganda or MTN Uganda for money talks, that’s a scammer.
Secondly, pay attention to the caller’s background; it’s often noisy or has strange sounds.
They’ll usually send a fake SMS during the call. But unlike a genuine mobile money message, it’s sent from a regular phone number and not in the usual AirtelMoney or MTNMobMoney chat thread. But since you’re already on the line, they won’t give you a second to think. They’ll bombard you with urgent questions, deliberately rushing you so you miss the red flags.
In 2024, while attending a funeral in Eastern Uganda, I was shown boys who allegedly take part in these fraudulent activities. Locally, in Busoga, they’re known as Kaweleza.
Airtel Uganda has recently rolled out an AI-powered spam alert system that helps detect such fraud attempts. But timing is still the scammer’s biggest weapon.
Imagine getting off a call with a loved one who’s expecting money, then receiving a follow-up message reading, “Please send it to this number and name instead.” It feels real, but it’s not. In such situations, always call the intended recipient to confirm before sending any money.
These scammers don’t care how little they get; even UGX 5,000 is still a win for them. And if you’re still engaged, with no shame, they’ll keep pushing for more money until you finally realise it’s a scam.
In 2017, a colleague secretly possessing a phone lost his school fees to one of these tricks. By the time he contacted customer support, within just 5 to 10 minutes, the money had already been withdrawn. This explains why many Ugandans believe these bafere work closely with mobile money agents to immediately cash out the stolen funds, long before the victim can reverse the transaction or have the line flagged through the operator.
It’s widely believed that some fraudsters use ID details from former SIM card registrants to fraudulently register new SIM cards in order to replace those disconnected by the telecom companies. To protect yourself and ensure no one is using your name to commit fraud, regularly check all SIM cards registered under your National ID.
On Airtel Uganda, dial 197#, select option 2 for NIN Check, then enter your National ID Number (NIN).
On MTN Uganda, dial 197#, select option 2 for ID Number Check, then enter your National ID Number (NIN).
This will display all SIM cards linked to your ID. If you spot any unfamiliar lines, call the number; it might be some relative, or contact customer support to have it disconnected.
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