SCAMMERS TARGET MOBILE MONEY AGENTS

ZAMBIA Telecommunication and Technology Authority (ZICTA) says it has heightened efforts to thwart the increased cases of scams being perpetuated by unscrupulous individuals stealing from the unsuspecting public.

Acting Director – Economic Regulation and Consumer Protection, Lwando Bbuku, said in the last two months, the Authority received over 15, 000 reports of scammers, out of which 400 were registered by mobile money agents.

In an interview, Mr. Bbuku stated that the Agency was aware of some unscrupulous people who had been engaging themselves by resorting to scam people through fake mobile money transaction messages.

He explained that scammers had now started reporting and blocking sim cards of their victims once their plans failed, adding that ZICTA had been receiving complaints from the general public concerning unscrupulous people wanting to scam them by sending fake mobile money transactions.

He stated that the Authority will not watch people losing money by unscrupulous people adding that it was its fundamental obligation to protect consumers from being scammed.

He observed that this was as a result of people applying their minds in a more unscrupulous manner than engaging in productive activities and utilising the same digital infrastructure that had been put in place to basically refranchise others.

He added that the Authority will ensure that the end user of information, technology and communication were protected from falling prey to such vices.

“The Authority is on top of things to ensure that scammers are detected and arrested and we will not sit and watch people losing money, but will ensure that every consumer is protected from being scammed,” Mr. Bbuku said.

And Mr. Bbuku said ZICTA will continue collaborating with other agencies to ensure that scammers were arrested so they could face the wrath of law.

He explained that communication towers, fibre optic cables and other devices had been installed by ZICTA across the country in order to deliver effective communication to the customers.

He said there was a need to essentially communicate and educate consumers and empower them so that they deal with such issues without any loss that could arise in the future.

“We are hoping that these vices that have taken route daily by scammers could be dealt with as soon as possible as many people have fallen victims as some have lost huge sums of money,” he said.