On Tuesday, 30 July 2019, South African network provider, MTN, issued a warning to its customers about two parody social media accounts, namely MTN AWOOF Giveaway and MTN Free Dashout.
These fake accounts claim to be official MTN accounts, however, they are in no way associated the company’s official accounts, nor have they been endorsed by MTN or any of its third-party service providers
MTN claims these accounts are run by scammers who use them to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
Jacqui O’Sullivan, MTN executive for corporate affairs, says, “We wish to strongly urge our customers not to fall prey to these accounts as they are not official and legitimate MTN accounts. Customers who wish to interact with us on social media can do so by using our official platforms which are listed below”.
“In recent months, MTN has seen a growth of parody social media accounts, particularly on Facebook, with some customers receiving friend requests from users claiming to be MTN agents who offer to assist them with their queries privately,” continues O’Sullivan.
She adds, “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. Our social media team are in regular contact with Facebook to remove these fake accounts as soon as we become aware of them”.
The list of official MTN SA social media handles are as follows:
Twitter: @MTNza and @MTNzaService
Facebook: MTN South Africa
Instagram: @MTNza
Edited by Jenna Cook
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