Malawians have accused mobile service provider, Airtel Malawi, of stealing from subscribers.
People in the country say Airtel has let their information fall into the hands of thieves who are scamming the companys customers.
On social media, people say the information they volunteered for the companys know your customer exercise is being used by scammers to steal money.
One Airtel customer identified as David Mwinama Nkhoma said a person claiming to be an Airtel employee called the customer, thanked him for registering with the company on KYC and asked him to change the password of his Airtel Money account to the year of his birth.
“He mentioned my full name, my address, my house number and the ID that was used for registering with Airtel.
“I was curious why he called using non official line but I reserved my curiosity because he mentioned all my information which I believed he is real.
He challenged me that he could give me more information if am still doubting him which he did by giving me my passport number, the customer wrote.
Nkhoma demanded more information from Airtel and asked the company to do more in safeguarding customer data.
One commenter Clifton Kumbuyokuliyani said he also had a similar experience with fraudsters who wanted to steal money from him.
“I think Airtel has to explain how our private information is getting into the hands of these fraudsters. Fortunately I was able to detect that this guy is a fraudster and I blasted him before he cut off the line, he wrote.
Another Facebook user wrote: “Remember we were filling KYC form at Airtel. After data entry, the forms were disposed off in an open bin in most shops. I once came across some used forms blown away by wind in City center. They had sensitive information that could also be used for sim swap. When these guys get your password, they do sim swap and access your mobile money account.”
