The Zambia Information Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has started rolling out interventions aimed at protecting the general public in Mambwe District in the Eastern Province against being scammed.
ZICTA Eastern Regional Officer, Brian Chileshe, said the authority is currently running Sim Card verification clinics in Mambwe among other activities.
Mr Chileshe told ZANIS in an interview that scamming had been an issue which came as a result of digital transformation.
He noted that digital transformation brought about multiple functions on a phone, and because of that, it brought both benefits and risks and despite the benefits being vast, the risks still existed.
Mr Chileshe said the Authority is sensitizing Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card Registration Agents against undertaking the sale of pre-registered Sim cards.
He observed that the selling of pre-registered SIM cards had been one of the main drivers of scamming.
“Pre-registered SIM cards have been one of the key issues that propagate scamming. Without pre-registered SIM Cards, there can be a lowered risk of being scammed,” he said.
Mr Chileshe further said ZICTA was also sensitizing the general public on Sim Card Verification which was coming to an end in August 2023.
Mr Chileshe added that ZICTA would also hold radio programmes in order to sensitize the general public on digital financial services and literacy as well as on the scams that were on the increase.
ZICTA has the ability to identify all scammers and hand them over to law enforcers. The fact that scammers are still thriving highly suggests some people within ZICTA are sheilding the scammers