Mobile money fraud is not random. It depends on one thing: cash-out. And cash-out happens at merchant points.

Today, almost anyone can become a mobile money merchant. Many are poorly trained, weakly vetted, and loosely supervised. That is a serious risk.

Every stolen cedi must pass through a registered merchant. So, how are fraudsters consistently withdrawing large sums?

Because there is collaboration, negligence, or both.

Basic rules are ignored. No strict ID checks. No proper records. No red flags. Worse, many customers report receiving scam calls after using certain merchants. That is not a coincidence.

The system is weak.

Telcos and regulators should be matching merchant call logs with fraud numbers, tracking suspicious transaction patterns, and freezing high-risk accounts. This is simple data work.

Instead, enforcement is soft.

Fix it:

Enforce ID for every cash-out.

Tighten merchant onboarding and training.

Monitor and rank merchants by risk.

Freeze suspicious accounts immediately.

Mobile money fraud persists because the exit door is wide open.

Shut down the merchant loophole, and the fraud collapses.