JUST IN: Econet warns against identity theft

Yvonne Ncube, Chronicle Reporter
TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe says it is working with the police to bring to book perpetrators who have been involved in identity theft and defrauding its customers.

The service provider, in a statement, revealed that cases of identity theft were reported and investigations were undertaken revealing that customers’ mobile lines were allegedly hacked by criminal elements to defraud customers.

“We have received isolated complaints from some of our customers, of their mobile lines being purportedly hacked.

“Our investigations have, however, revealed cases of identity theft, where fraudulent, counterfeit, national identity cards (IDs) are being used by some criminal elements to fake identity of unsuspecting customers and facilitate SIM replacement,” said Econet.

The service provider said it was working towards resolving the issue.

“We have alerted our channels of this scam, and we are working with the police to bring the perpetrators to book and protect our customers. We assure our customers that our systems are safe and secure, and have not been hacked.” said Econet.

Econet argued its customers to report such cases to Econet shops or the nearest police station.

“We urge all customers to be vigilant and report such cases to the police or the nearest Econet shop.” said Econet.