Airtel Malawi Plc warns its customers of fake offer of Airtel Money loans being circulated on social media

* The flier indicates that hundreds of thousands of customers have already accessed the loans

* And just a few of four people attest to have benefited, who are most definitely in collusion with the scam

By Duncan Mlanjira

Airtel Malawi Plc has disassociated itself from fliers that are awash on social media of WhatsApp groups enticing customers to Airtel Money Kutchova Loan, saying saying it’s all fake.

The fliers entices customers to access a loan of up to MK100,000 from Airtel Money Kutchova Loan “as one way of empowering local businesses”.

Once one taps a link that is provided it indicates that hundreds of thousands of customers have already accessed the loans and have a few people who attest to have benefited, who are most definitely in collusion with the scam.

But Airtel Malawi emphasises this is all fake as this is mobile money fraud, which is rampant in the country but according to data by Reserve Bank of Malawi, as of March 2024, fraud on mobile money had decreased by 53% from K28 million to K13 million on Airtel Money service and 15% from K2.7 million to K2.3 million on TNM Mpamba.

Meanwhile, in May, in order to protect customers against money fraud, Airtel Malawi Plc removed one time password on MyAirtel App Airtel and instead introduced new security features.

The leading provider of mobile telecommunications services in Malawi, unveiled the removal of the One Time Password (OTP) on their flagship MyAirtel Mobile App and introduced two innovative security measures that have been integrated into the app.

In a statement, Managing Director, Charles Kamoto unveiled  the development during a meeting with the Parliamentary Committee on Media, Information & Communications Technology when he was addressing concerns regarding fraud.

“We have now removed the One Time Password (OTP) and introduced an SMS verification feature, which will send a free auto-generated message to the user’s mobile number to authenticate ownership before logging into the app, thereby adding an extra layer of security.

“We have also introduced biometric facial or fingerprint recognition which will be prompted for customers with phones of this capability.

“We are proud to be the first network to introduce these security enhancements in Malawi. This technology ensures that only authorized users can access the app, effectively preventing unauthorized attempts and access from fraudsters.”

Kamoto emphasised that these features address the rising fraud incidents associated with customers releasing OTPs to fraudsters, providing a more secure solution where potential victims are not targeted for the OTP.

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) also introduced Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) system as a security measure of protecting mobile devices from theft and fraud.

The system is also to curtail problems of rampant theft of mobile devices in the country and to identify fake or cloned mobile devices as well as providing all privacy as it stores and utilizes International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEls).

IMEls identify the actual handset worldwide not Sim card numbers and all transactions in the Sim card are under the privacy and security policies of mobile network operator.

Only upon receipt of a report from a subscriber or the Malawi Police Service CEIR be invoked to trace, block and blacklist the mobile device linked to the report using its IMEI.