This week social media has been awashed with a viral video by an Airtel Money Client called Mr. Bukenya Henry on number 0756392570 accusing the big telecom company of having a very insecure Airtel Money platform. Mr. Bukenya alleged that on the 11th day of November 2021 at about 12:30 pm that his car was vandalized and his phone that contained his Airtel line was stolen.
Mr. Bukenya’s Story
He late later noticed that several withdrawals were made on his Airtel Money account. A few minutes after his phone was stolen he tried to get an agent who helped him to call Airtel money. When Mr. Bukenya tried to call the company– in just a few minutes less than an hour, he realized that he had lost seven million Shillings. By 12:57 pm he says he had 1 million at 1:06 p.m. UGX 900,000 had been withdrawn, and at 1:13 pm UGX 800,000 was withdrawn. This was not the end, the thieves went ahead and withdrew UGX 700,000 at 1:21 pm, and finally at 1: 27 pm, 3 million was withdrawn. In total, he claims to have lost UGX 13.4 million.
He confirms that he had blocked the line after the UGX 7 million had been taken from his Airtel Money account. He personally went to the firm and confirmed that his line had been blocked. This is the point he got his statement and was advised that his line would be replaced after three days because it was blocked. He traveled upcountry for work and three days down the road his SIM card was unblocked by Airtel Money Ltd and yet another UGX 3.75 million Shillings was withdrawn putting the total to UGX 17.15 million.
At this point Mr. Bukenya wondered how someone can use his line without his consent, he further expressed his concern in the viral video about who could have his image and National ID details, to be able to get a SIM card replacement and withdraw, his money. The thief took money off his company account and to make matters worse they borrowed using his account with the same SIM card.
Henry says that he had deliberately stopped his pursuit of this case and forgotten about it, but he has now come out since everyone is crying over a similar issue. He wondered who these people were in or out of Airtel that is able to withdraw clients’ money without the need for passwords. “Are you still secure? Are you securing our money? Because Airtel Money doesn’t seem to understand what is going on. I am calling all the people that have the same problem like mine. My number is 0756392570, please come, we actually address this problem as a team. I think this time, we’ll know, we are not safe.” Mr. Bukenya concluded in the video. See the full video below.
The Airtel Money Response
In response, Airtel Money said that the viral video by Mr. Henry Bukenya, their customer alleging fraud and loss of his money and they clarified with the following observations;’
- Airtel Money confirmed that Mr. Bukenya lost his phone, and his PIN, known only to him, and it was used to withdraw money from his Airtel Money account before he reported the matter to them on 10th November 2021.
- The company on discovering the issue immediately blocked the line, but unfortunately, due to connivance, Mr. Bukenya lost some money.
- The matter was fully investigated, and appropriate compensation was made to Mr. Bukenya for the loss attributable to Airtel. However, the company in their statement doesn’t mention how much was given back to Mr. Bukenya. But on the 18th of February 2022, Mr. Bukenya acknowledged receipt of the same, and the matter was closed.
- The company reported to the police about the connivance and claimed that appropriate action was taken against the person involved. The details were also reported to the sector regulator, the Bank of Uganda.
At the end of the statement, the firm reassured the public that the Airtel Money Platform security remains our top priority and shall be kept as such. They further urged their customers to NEVER share their PINs with anyone.
