WHILE branchless banking services have created ease for customers through innovative, simple and seamless payments, they have increased the rate of digital crimes and frauds. On Dec 18, 2020, I received a text from 3737, the official number of a mobile wallet company, informing me that my account had been blocked. I was unable to visit the nearby franchise to sort out the issue immediately.

Two days later, I received a call from an unknown person claiming to be a representative of the said company. He informed me that my account had been blocked and I needed to follow his instructions immediately if I wanted to reactivate my account, else it would be blocked permanently and the company would not be responsible for the loss of balance.

Although I argued initially, eventually fell into his trap and followed the instructions he gave me. As a result, I was robbed of my pocket money which my family had somehow managed to send me.

After the horrible episode, I called the mobile wallet helpline and registered my complaint against the ID and the account in which my money was transferred. To my utter disappointment, I received a text from the company on Dec 27, telling me that my complaint No 809719 had been closed with the “Not an issue” status.

While I accept my mistake of following someone’s instructions blindly, I am shocked that how is this digital fraud ‘not an issue’ for the company. If it is not the company, then who is responsible for the loopholes in security, leakage of customers’ personal information and breach of privacy?

One of the biggest reasons for sharing my information was that I received the text from the official EasyPaisa number. Can the company bother to shed some light on it? Instead of strengthening and securing its mobile banking platform, the company is ignoring the complaints and concerns of its customers.

I urge the government to take strict action against the company and ensure that these platforms are safe and secure. I also request people at large to be aware of such incidents because these companies will not take the responsibility of hackers having an easy access to their systems.

Zaib Baloch
Quetta

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2021