This archive report was first published on 29 June 2019.
Safaricom Apologizes for Misleading Top-Up Message ¶
On June 29, 2019, Safaricom subscribers received alarming messages from the company, threatening to close down their lines if they did not top up with airtime worth Ksh.5.
Some subscribers took to Twitter to ask Safaricom's customer care team if the message was a scam, while others expressed frustration and dared the company to switch off their lines.
However, Safaricom later clarified that the message was sent 'by mistake' and apologized for the alarm it caused to its 30 million subscribers who received the message.
Customers were urged to ignore the message, and Safaricom assured them that their lines were not at risk of being deleted.
Despite the apology, the incident has raised concerns about the increasing number of cases of fraud involving telecommunications companies in Kenya.
Recently, two Safaricom employees were arraigned in court for allegedly copying and transferring privileged subscriber data to an unauthorized person. In another case, three suspects were charged with causing loss of airtime valued at Ksh.42,500 to Safaricom by interfering with the company's system.
Airtel Kenya also faced a similar issue after it emerged that the company lost Ksh.670 million in fraudulent transactions linked to its employees.
As a precaution, Safaricom has cautioned Kenyans against falling victims of such scams and urged them to report suspicious messages to their toll-free number 333 for investigation.
