1.0 Overview
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Brief description of technology and associated Science
Wireless mobile payments rely on the technology of wireless internet connection as one of the emerging technologies. Mobile devices are used to affect various transaction payments ranging from paying bills, bank withdrawal and deposits, sending and receiving of funds, debt payments among others. All these transactions can be settled by the mobile handset holder irrespective of his or her geographical locations and irrespective of time. It is thus more efficient and reliable in reducing congestion of queues in banks, improving the speed of operations as well as accuracy of transaction updates.
The wireless technology is therefore part of information and communication technology (ICT) advancement which has affected nearly all areas of the economy. However, the implementation of this emerging technology can be influenced by both political and legal factors among others. This paper, thus describes how both politics and legal issues affects transaction payments within the context of wireless technology. The paper concludes on how this wireless mobile payment fits the Canadian society at large (Hoffmann and Aliaa 2013).
1.2 Mobile money transfer services encourage illegal activities.
The discreet nature and handiness of the service makes it attractive to criminals. Mobile money transfers can assist criminal acts in a number of ways as follows:
Payment of illegal services and products
Mobile money makes it easier for paying for illegal services and products such as prostitution and drugs (Zhang and Mark 2007). Every year, several Canadians feel the overwhelming impacts of fraud. Criminals tend to target and exploit Canadians of every age group and from all walks of life via false or deceptive advertising, pyramid schemes, lottery scams and many other illegal activities (Chant 2014).
It is only by learning about what scams and fraudulent activities look like that Canadians can help fight fraud for the purpose of protecting themselves. Businesses and individuals are carrying out deceptive marketing practices which include false representations through mobile phone scams and other means such as telemarketing, internet among others. The Canadian version of The Little Black Book of Scams has an objective of increasing the awareness of several types of frauds. It targets Canadians and provides a variety of simple steps you can take to safeguard yourself and stay away from falling victim of fraud (Chant 2014).
Given that not all internet sites are legitimate, scammers can illegally copy a genuine website and trick others to believe that it is legitimate. The scammers also use their mobile phone to target a large number of people and try to get a small amount of money from each one of them. However, scams are not always about money since they can also aim at stealing personal information from an individual. Criminals also use mobile internet and spam emails to provide drugs and medicine at very cheap prices without the requirement for prescription from a doctor. The payment of such medicine can be settled by means of wireless mobile money transfer. The recipients end up receiving the products in response to their order yet there is no guarantee that they are genuine (Deering et al. 2011).
Criminals like terrorists have also engaged in smuggling in the Northeastern New York and Canada, causing national security vulnerability. In this region, criminals can smuggle a type of the nuclear device called Radiological dispersal Device (RDD) or dirty bomb. In this case, criminals engage in money laundering offenses in which weapons can be bought and transaction completed via mobile money transfer. The criminals can have organized type of crime network where all operations to do with smuggling are coordinated. The network of smuggling can thus give them an opportunity to smuggle several profitable items whose payments are affected through mobile money (Myers 2014).
There have been also some bribery allegations facing one engineering giant company called SNC-Lavalin in Canada. This type of corruption was associated with few individuals. The CEO, Robert Card took over from Pierre Duhaime after being forced to resign over $56 million in alleged improper payments. It is possible that this payment was simply settled through mobile money. In fact, Gwyn Morgan, the former chairman of the company said that it even becomes difficult to detect such frauds associated with setting out false documents. Also, there is paying bribery and covering up of theft especially few individuals in A large Company like this are attached to the crimes (Kelly 2014).
1.3 Mobile banking and the Wireless Money
Mobile banking and wireless money transfer pose a threat of likely theft. Users of mobile money transfer services stand a possibility of getting robbed if transactions are not completely protected. Mobile money transfer endangers the service’s user when various kinds of criminals. Criminals include hackers, scammers and others try to access the user’s accounts through the mobile network where they can manipulate transactions where security is at compromised level.
Hackers can gain access to a secured transaction channel
Hackers can gain access to a protected transaction channel and steal money or the bio data of an individual .Debit card fraud can take place when hackers gain access to your debit card number and even PIN in some cases. Gaining access to these kinds of details allows hackers to make an unauthorized purchase or withdraw cash from an individual’s account. There are various approaches of getting individual’s information from unscrupulous employees to hackers who wants to get the right of entry to your data from the retailer’s unprotected computer. Since transactions can be carried out using mobile money transfer, a hacker can it easily as long as he/she has gotten the relevant account details needed (Tobbin and Adjei 2012).
It means that protecting personal details like PIN, credit card number and other account details can be a better way of dealing with hackers. Business transactions have also been made easier and secure using mobile wireless payments as compared to the use of hard cash. It has seen the successful growth of many businesses due to mobile credit card readers given that customers do not have reservations on expenditure of electronic currency. The fact that transactions are made easier has also made it attractive to criminals who can gain access to customer information (Brown and Suresh 2011).
Scammers can trick unsuspecting victims to send them money
Scammers can use false promises of delivery of a product or service to trick some victims with the aim of receiving money from them via mobile money transfer. Customers should always check that they are visiting the correct website when logging into their bank account. The valid website address has to show the bank name with a .com or .co.uk endings. The bank account holders should avoid clicking links they find in emails claiming to be from their banks. Scammers, for example, often employ this as an approach to trick such account holders into handing over their login details on the counterfeit sites. They therefore tend to take advantage of such ignorant bank customers who are fond of checking their account details from the internet. The use of mobile phones makes it easy for scammers to participate in such tricks irrespective of his or her geographical region.
Operators of a mobile money transfer platform colluding with criminals
Operators of a mobile money transfer platform can collude with criminals and compromise the safety of the subscribers’ money and personal data. In case the operators of mobile money transfer from, say, Safaricom collude with the criminals for their personal gain, then it is possible for criminals to get access to the mobile account details of customers. When it happens, then the criminals can easily use their mobile phones to access the bank account of the bank customers in order to withdraw money (Lee 2010).
The operators of mobile money at the customer’s bank can also endanger the customers’ accounts as long as they know their details. For example, Safaricom alleges that Equity bank in Kenya planned to employ the use of paper-thin SIM card technology could danger the existing mobile money users with fraud dangers. However, Equity bank has denied the basis of the allegations. Equity bank won a mobile virtual network operator license on April 2014 to take on M-Pesa by starting its paper-thin SIM cards that can be stuck to the available SIM card in user’s phones. The use of this technology implies that Equity bank mobile users will not have fork out extra cash to buy dual SIM handsets. If the use of this technology by Equity turns out to be risky as explained by Safaricom operators, then customers’ bank accounts are likely to face frauds facilitated by bankers themselves (Gareth 2014).
1.4 Mobile money transfer influencing political process
On the political front, mobile money transfer possesses the possibility to influence the result of a political process. Supporters of a certain political cause can donate funds via transfer service. The various Political contributions can be done under the conditions described below.
Subscriber’s contribution
Subscribers of the mobile money service can contribute campaign funds to their preferred candidate during an election period just the same way it happens in Canada’s politics and other countries. This contribution can take place in two ways. First is through mobile to mobile money transfer. Second is through mobile to bank money transfer whereby subscribers channels their contributions by sending electronic data to a specified bank account using their mobiles in support of their favorite political candidate.
Political party contribution
Every political party may want to contribute funds toward the campaign of their candidates. It also applies in the case where political parties are funded by the government. The government can fund different political parties by sending electronic transaction data to their respective bank accounts by means of mobile money transfer which is considered to be more secure and safer. The political members of the political parties can also carry out their individual contributions using mobile money in order to support their party.
Contributions for the cause of the common good
Contributions for a cause meant for the common good can be managed by the providers of a mobile money transfer platform. There are so many examples to give in this case. In the year of 2010, Canada, through its G-8 presidency, championed the Muskoka Initiative on Maternal, newborn and child health. They had an objective of improving the health of mothers and children in the world’s poorest countries. As at the moment, CIDA focuses its efforts on implementing its commitments. By the year of 2011, it managed to achieve several positive outcomes.
Some of the outcomes achieved include safe delivery of babies by more than 3000 women in South Africa and more than 1800 attending antenatal clinic that doubled as compared to that of 2010. In Tanzania, Canada’s contribution to maternal and health issues resulted to 47 percent of women gaining access to contraception up from 20 percent in 2004. Other contributions include those of medical care towards lifesaving antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS as well as poverty eradication in poor countries. The contribution for the cause of the common good can also extend towards the development of schools, hospitals, bridges and many others. All of these contributions can be made easier through the help of mobile banking (Planning 2012).
Conclusion
Mobile payments have therefore fit the society by offering instant services within the shortest time possible irrespective of the geographical space or location. This technology thus has both positive and negative impacts. However, its positive impacts outweigh the negative ones. The provision of quick services within the actual clock time and its efficiency, convenience among other merits makes it have several positive impacts on economic growth and building. However, the case of criminals using this payment method to deceive other subscribers through sending of false messages and account hacking can make it have a negative impact to a given extent.
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