MTN Group admits 5,700 customers in Ghana may have been impacted
In a recent development, telecommunications giant MTN Group has disclosed a cybersecurity incident that affected around 5,700 of its customers in Ghana during April and May 2025. The breach potentially exposed personal data, but mobile money wallets remained unaffected.
Following the incident, a coordinated investigation has been launched by Ghana’s Data Protection Commission, Cyber Security Authority, and National Communications Authority. MTN has also scheduled a six-hour mobile money service outage on August 17, 2025, which is likely linked to system upgrades addressing the cybersecurity breach.
As a precaution, experts and authorities are advising customers to be vigilant against scams, particularly those leveraging artificial intelligence to clone voices or impersonate officials, relatives, or MTN agents. They also recommend avoiding sharing MoMo PINs and being cautious when receiving calls requesting financial details or urging password resets.
Moreover, implementing multi-factor authentication and biometric verification where available is encouraged, as regulators propose upgrading security protocols to counter AI-enabled fraud. Customers are also urged to monitor their accounts regularly for suspicious activity and report any anomalies promptly to MTN and relevant authorities.
The incident underscores the increased risks posed by AI tools that enable scalable, convincing impersonations, threatening the trust and security of Ghana’s mobile money ecosystem.
MTN and Ghanaian regulators continue to update the public as investigations progress and are taking steps to enhance cybersecurity defenses in this critical financial infrastructure.
Here's a summary of the key points:
- Incident: Cybersecurity breach affecting approximately 5,700 MTN Ghana customers (April-May 2025)
- Data exposed: Personal data; mobile money wallets unaffected
- Investigation: Coordinated by Ghana’s Data Protection Commission, Cyber Security Authority, and National Communications Authority
- Customer advice: Avoid sharing PINs; watch for AI-driven scams; use multi-factor authentication; monitor accounts closely
- Recent update: MTN Mobile Money offline for six-hour upgrade on August 17, 2025, linked to breach response
- Cybersecurity challenge: AI-based voice cloning fraud increasing sophistication of scams
As the investigation continues, MTN will keep stakeholders updated. Affected customers will be contacted directly by MTN. For support, customers can reach out to MTN's toll-free customer care line, 100. It is crucial for all customers to keep their MTN, MoMo, and banking apps updated and to activate multi-factor authentication where possible. Confidentiality, integrity, and availability of MTN's systems are crucial to its operations, and all MTN platforms remain fully operational despite the incident. Customers should never disclose passwords, PINs, or OTPs via phone, text, or email.
- In light of the cybersecurity incident at MTN Group, the company encourages its customers in Ghana to implement multi-factor authentication and biometric verification, which are proposed upgrades to counter AI-enabled fraud.
- Considering the AI-driven scams that may arise due to the breach, MTN advises its customers to be vigilant, avoid sharing MoMo PINs, and regularly monitor their accounts for suspicious activity.
