By Correspondent
đź“ŤDar es Salaam
After months of being flagged as the most fraud-targeted telecom operator in Tanzania, Airtel has made a decisive comeback, cutting fraud attempts by 56 percent in just one quarter.
The turnaround comes on the heels of a bold tech-driven strategy: the launch of Spam Alert – Kataa Matapeli, Africa’s first AI-powered fraud detection and spam alert service. Introduced in the second quarter of 2025, the system uses artificial intelligence to scan, identify, and alert users about suspicious messages and calls in real-time—enabling them to avoid common mobile scams.
This innovation was deployed as part of the government-backed #SITAPELIKI campaign, aligning Airtel’s customer safety priorities with national efforts to strengthen digital security.
Only a few months post-launch, the results are already telling. Once topping the charts in reported fraud cases—5,187 in December 2024 and 5,876 in March 2025, according to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA)—Airtel now ranks as the second-best performer in fraud reduction, following TTCL’s 58 per cent drop.
“This is more than just a tech upgrade; it’s a signal that we’re listening to our customers and taking action,” said a spokesperson from Airtel Tanzania during the service’s unveiling. “We recognized the urgency and responded with real, scalable solutions. The dramatic fall in fraud cases is a direct result of this focus.”
While Airtel is seeing positive momentum, other operators are facing the opposite trend. The same TCRA report shows Halotel experiencing a 67 percent surge in fraud incidents in Q2, while Vodacom saw a 34 percent rise. Yas, meanwhile, recorded only a marginal decrease of 0.2 percent.
Beyond protecting customers, Airtel’s success in fraud mitigation is expected to enhance confidence in Airtel Money, its mobile financial platform. Although Airtel remains in third position in terms of mobile money user base and transaction volumes—behind Vodacom’s M-Pesa and Yas’s Mixx—the improved security profile could boost adoption and usage in the coming months.
The broader telecom sector, according to TCRA, remained stable during the quarter ending June 2025, with steady growth across telecommunications, postal and courier services, and broadcasting. However, it’s Airtel’s sharp pivot from vulnerability to vigilance that stands out most.
“By leveraging cutting-edge AI tools and collaborating closely with regulatory bodies and public initiatives, we’ve shown that even the biggest challenges can be flipped into opportunities. “This is only the beginning,” the Airtel spokesperson told Maarifa Online.
