Airtel Zambia Launches ‘Be Fraud Alert’ Campaign

Airtel Networks Zambia Plc has today launched a fraud awareness campaign dubbed ‘Be Fraud Alert’ on the back of the rising levels of scams and fraud.

The campaign will consist of informative and educative programs delivered through SMSes and all media channels.

Globally, fraud loss in the telecom industry is more than 2 percent of total revenues, which is close to USD 46 billion. The industry estimates fraud losses due to mobile wallet fraud to also be around 2-3% of the revenues generated by mobile money services.

Several mobile money users have raised concerns of receiving unsolicited text messages of suspected cases of fraud from fraudsters wanting to swindle them. The customers have been receiving scam messages asking them to send money back from their accounts to fraudster-owned accounts.

Through this awareness campaign, Airtel Zambia aims to use its platforms to educate customers on preventative measures to counter fraud risks. Airtel will also use SMS blasts in major languages, print and social media to provide its customers with adequate information.

In addition to launching the campaign on SMSes, social media platforms and all traditional media, Airtel has also established an internal process for flagging fraud scenarios by integrating data analytics, machine learning and greater data privacy measures to ensure customers are safe and fraud cases are reviewed and flagged off in earnest to the regulator and the authorities for further follow ups and prosecution.

Airtel Zambia’s Managing Director, Apoorva Mehrotra, said:

“Fraud awareness and prevention is a critical part of Airtel’s service provision for our customers. Our fraud awareness campaign seeks to arm our customers with knowledge and tools, so that they can avoid scams. With this in mind, we will continue to invest a tremendous amount of time
and resources in developing and continuously improving our consumer protection programs.”

 

“We continue to collaborate with our regulators, the Zambia Information Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) and the Bank of Zambia as well as the law enforcement agencies as we come up with various interventions to stop the scourge. We aim to ensure that our services are used for the intended purpose and within the compliance of the law. Great strides have been made in the financial inclusion space, therefore we urge customers to exercise caution when dealing with people unknown to them as well as equipping themselves with knowledge of the service they are using. One key feature to note is that Airtel Money transaction messages will always be from Airtel Money Sender ID and so messages coming from random numbers should be ignored and reported immediately to
our call center at 111 or to our Service Centers. ”

Source: Airtel Zambia