What should have been a simple mistake has turned into a legal nightmare. In Ivory Coast, a man is now in court for refusing to return an excess of 500,000 FCFA received in his Mobile Money account.

The facts: a costly data entry bug

It all starts at a Mobile Money outlet managed by DAM. A customer arrives to make a large transfer, but the first number provided is full and cannot receive the entire amount. To resolve the situation, the customer provides a second number to split the money.

It was at the moment of validating the transaction that the manager made a data entry error:

1. Estimated amount: 4,000,000 FCFA
2. Amount sent: 4,500,000 FCFA
3. The loss: 500,000 FCFA overpaid.

Bad faith and intervention by the PLCC

As soon as he realizes his mistake, the manager immediately contacts the beneficiary, ZBD, to ask him to return the excess. Unexpectedly, ZBD categorically denies having received the extra money and refuses to cooperate.

Faced with this bad faith, the manager refused to give up and contacted the Cybercrime Unit (PLCC) . The technical investigation conducted by the experts left no room for doubt: despite the suspect's denials, the digital evidence confirmed that he had indeed received and kept the money.

What the law says

After being questioned by law enforcement, ZBD was brought before the prosecutor's office. He is now being prosecuted for misappropriation of property .

The legal framework: The procedure is based strictly on Law No. 2013-451 of June 19, 2013 relating to the fight against cybercrime, combined with several articles of the Ivorian Penal Code.

💡 The essential reminder

This case serves as a reminder of a golden rule in the digital age: a transfer received in error is never a gift. Deliberately keeping money that doesn't belong to you is a crime severely punished by law. In the event of a suspicious receipt, the best course of action is to immediately contact your service provider to cancel the transaction.