MTN warns of multiple ‘fake MTN Facebook accounts’ scamming users

MTN is warning its users against a number of parody Facebook accounts parading as official channels for the telecoms company.

It called into question two accounts, namely MTN Awoof Giveaway, and MTN Free Dashout, which the company believes “are run by scammers who use them to defraud unsuspecting members of the public”.

“These are NOT MTN’s official accounts, nor have they been endorsed by MTN or any of its third-party service providers,” it added.

The telecoms firm has “seen a growth of parody social media accounts” on Facebook in recent months, and a quick search on the social network suggests there’s more than ten at present (with an odd share that all include AWOOF in their page names).

A number of these accounts encourage users to enter competitions where they can win prizes such as airtime, mobile data, or even cars.

Some parody accounts entice users with competitions to win cars

“Apply and you could win MTN free car giveaway for active users, we made it easy to win and you could win more than one to yourself,” reads one post on a page titled “MTN giveaway for customers”.

The telecoms firm warned against users accepting friend requests from parody accounts “claiming to be MTN agents who offer to assist them with their queries privately”.

“We encourage our customers to be on high alert and when uncertain, to verify the validity of purported MTN social media accounts by calling our call centre on 083 808 or by visiting any MTN retail centre,” the company concluded.

While the issue doesn’t seem as detrimental to users as the OTP scam that plagued the network last year, users should definitely double check that the page they’re using is official.

Feature image: warrenski via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0, resized)