Mobile Money Fraud: Government Brings Key Stakeholders Together for National Response

The Government of Sierra Leone has launched a two-day national consultation to develop a coordinated roadmap for tackling mobile money fraud and other cyber-enabled financial crimes.

The consultation, held from August 18–19 at the National Communications Authority (NatCA) Building in South Ridge, IMATT, is being organised by the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation in partnership with NatCA.

The process brings together stakeholders from the financial, telecommunications, security, technology, government, civil society and private sectors to strengthen coordination and develop practical measures for preventing, detecting and responding to fraud within Sierra Leone’s growing digital financial ecosystem. Participants include the Financial Intelligence Agency, Bank of Sierra Leone, Parliamentary Committee on ICT, NatCA, National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre, National Civil Registration Authority, mobile money and telecommunications operators, Police Cyber Crime Unit and other relevant institutions.

The consultation follows Government commitments to Parliament to strengthen the security of digital financial infrastructure and improve mechanisms for fraud prevention and response.

During the first day, three panel sessions examined the issue from the perspectives of consumers, institutions and industry. The Consumer Voices session highlighted the experiences of fraud victims, identified how fraudulent activities move through the system and exposed gaps that criminals can exploit.

The What Institutions Know panel revealed that agencies often have access to only part of the information surrounding fraud cases, resulting in a fragmented understanding of the problem. Participants identified legal and regulatory gaps, implementation challenges and limited access to data across institutions as major obstacles to effective fraud response.

The Industry on Record session brought mobile money and telecommunications operators into the discussion. Operators outlined existing fraud controls, made commitments with specific implementation timelines and identified safeguards requiring industry-wide adoption.

Findings from the discussions will inform four working groups focused on Prevention and Detection; Reporting, Response and Victim Redress; Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability; and Coordination, Information Sharing and Legal Reform.

The resulting roadmap is expected to provide a national framework for protecting citizens who increasingly rely on mobile money for transactions, savings and remittances, while improving fraud prevention, victim support, accountability, information sharing and legal responses.

The Government expects the process to strengthen coordination among institutions involved in the fraud-response chain, close existing gaps and help maintain public confidence in Sierra Leone’s expanding digital financial services sector.

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