Vodafone says its M-Paisa platform and users personal accounts “are absolutely secure and hack-proof from scammers and fraudsters if customers are careful not to expose or reveal their account PIN and OTP to other third parties.”

The assurance issued in a statement this afternoon, came in the wake of complaints posted by Fijians on social media where they claimed money was taken out of their accounts without their knowledge.

Fiji One News spoke to a number of Fijians who claimed money had been removed without their knowledge, including Lite Rawalai, 43, of Nakelo, Tailevu who said $1000 was taken out of her account and transferred to someone else’s account.

Vodafone says right from the outset when a customer registers for M-PAiSA, the PIN to their account is created by the customers themselves.
“Vodafone neither creates a customer’s account PIN nor does it store customer account PIN in a visible format in its system,” the mobile communications giant said.

“Even when a customer calls Vodafone to inform that they have forgotten their PIN, Vodafone does not create their new account PIN.
“After ID verification of the account holder, Vodafone sends a one-time PIN reset code to customer’s mobile phone which requires them to create a new PIN to their account by themselves.

“Neither Vodafone nor any of its staff have any visibility or knowledge of the customer’s account PIN at any time.”

Vodafone says it has been advising customers through various mediums, including TV and radio talk back shows, SMS messages and social media posts, not to share their OTP and PIN with unknown persons and callers even if they claim to be from Vodafone or the police.

“Vodafone will never ask a customer for their account PIN either over the phone of in-person over the counter. The PIN and OTP must always remain secret to the account holder and is one of the main terms and conditions of use for M-PAiSA.