Safaricom came under pressure from Kenyans who noticed that their M-Pesa menus were initiating transactions without their knowledge.
Former Tusker Project Fame (TPF) contestant Alvan Love raised the alarm in a post on his Facebook account.
“Safaricom! No longer safe! I just found my phone trying to money by it’s self. It started with a notification ( your sim played a tone accept or decline I accepted then the next thing all the mpesa menu came up and started doing things by its self). Safaricom PLC What the hell is going on? 😱 I have since emptied it to zero,” Alvan Love wrote.
Several Facebook users also complained that they had noticed their M-Pesa menus were ‘in operation’ without their knowledge.
Pressure mounted on Safaricom to offer an explanation after many complaints were raised by Facebook users.
The telecommunication giant ultimately responded in Alvan Love’s comment section, saying the M-Pesa menu activating resulted from a new development in the M-Pesa withdrawal menu.
“Hello Alvan, we extend to you our most sincere apologies regarding the experience with our M-Pesa service. The issue was as a result of M-pesa system menu push for the newly developed M-Pesa withdrawal menu. Your M-Pesa account was not accessed as there was no PIN entry request. Thank you. ^AO,” Safaricom wrote.
