Econet employee blocks subscriber’s number after black market deal goes wrong?

Farai Mudzingwa

24 August 2020

We’ve written about the black market for eLearning bundles a couple of times now. In fact, we’ve done so on four different occasions now. Most recently we noted that fraudsters were selling eLearning bundles and then not giving buyers the data.

Whilst buying eLearning bundles from this black market has always come with an inherent risk, buyers don’t assume that a scuffle will end with them being blocked from using EcoCash.

Well, it seems like that’s exactly what happened to one buyer who shared their tale on Twitter. The consumer says after raising concerns regarding the selling of these bundles the seller threatened to block his EcoCash account.

After the consumer noted that they don’t use EcoCash, the seller then threatened to block his line and “make sure” the consumer would never recover it. The consumers line was blocked on EcoCash after their conversation and interesting to note was that whoever did it said “we barred your EcoCash account”.

After going into the thread to figure out what transpired, there was yet another customer blocked by the same number;

This time not only did they threaten to block this customers number, but they also promised to block SIM cards belonging to contacts who frequently contact that individual.

This means not only are Econet employees selling bundles illegally, they can also potentially block your line if you call them out. We reached out to Econet representatives before midday and they are yet to get back to us with details of what actually transpired at the time of writing. We will update this article in

A broken system

When eLearning bundles were launched and it was confirmed that you would be interfacing with Econet employees directly we raised concern. At the time we didn’t think it would result in a black market but we felt there was too much friction in the process;

…there’s still some bit of friction in how this offer can be accessed, hopefully it gets smoothed out. This probably means that the plan was put together quickly after the outcry of the price revision yesterday.
Econet Introduces A Cheaper e-Learning Bundle, Schools Buy It For Students & Teachers

Regardless of the imperfections of the system, it still is disappointing that an employee would do something of the sort. Ultimately it’s down to Econet to resolve this situation and ensure that the chaos that’s ensuing because of the eLearning bundles is resolved…

Broadband, Telecommunications

11 comments

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Imi Vanhu Musadaro

24 August 2020 16:27

I find it silly to do dealings on the black market, then when something goes wrong you want to run around telling anyone who is listening that you were scammed or mishandled.

It is also a shame to politely call the *black market buyer* a “consumer”, yet they seem well aware they were participating in shady dealings. So don’t call out Econet alone, also call out the buyer as well. Anyway, if you play with fire you are bound to get burnt, so I have no sympathy for them. The black market buyers are now using TZ to settle their scores with their black market counterpart.

Reply
1. Francis
  
  25 August 2020 13:05
  
  I’m also the victim. I was scammed by this number 0775756815
  
  Reply
2. Farai Mudzingwa
  
  25 August 2020 13:29
  
  The person who actually got his line blocked didn’t buy the bundle.
  
  Scammer pitched deal to consumer, consumer called out the deal as being shady, scammer blocks consumers line. Not entirely sure how that counts as running around telling people that he was scammed.
  
  Secondly, the bigger issue for Econet here would be that employees are not only selling data illegally they can also block consumers line. Econet stands to lose especially in the 2nd instance where a rogue employee threatens to block lines belonging to people who have no idea there was a black market to begin with.
  
  There is a much bigger picture than simply “You went to buy data in the wrong place, that serves you right” and hopefully Econet can see that
  
  Reply
  1. Imi Vanhu Musadaro
    
    25 August 2020 18:22
    
    Where did the *black market buyer* call out the deal as shady? He asked, when he was going to get his data, which makes it seem like he was interested. And, the conversation looks edited, because the next day is just starts with the seller saying, “Have we scammed you?”, out of the blue. So, it is likely some messages in-between were deleted.
    
    It’s no different to folks who pay bribes at roadblocks, who make it seem like police are the problem, yet you were a willing participant in the dodgy transaction. I say willing, because you could opt to pay any official fine or buy data from official sources.
    
    Note, the buyer also claims they were scammed the week prior, which means they have tried to buy data from the black market before. This time they were wiser, but still they are not an innocent victim as you try and portray.
    
    I am not absolving Econet of their responsibility, but I’m saying the buyer also has their part they played and fault to bear.
    
    Reply
    1. Trashy Customer Service
      
      26 August 2020 08:17
      
      But the first screen shot suggests that his only crime was calling out the Econet guy for the shady deals. He got his line blocked because he called him out and that’s very childish and unprofessional to say the least. What kind of customer service is that?
      
      Reply
      1. Farai Mudzingwa
        
        26 August 2020 13:49
        
        Exactly how I see it as well. Either way even if one customer is doing the wrong thing. That does not justify Econet employees doing the wrong thing. Econet has more to lose than one person losing ZW400. That’s the bigger picture
        
        Reply
    2. Farai Mudzingwa
      
      26 August 2020 13:47
      
      I agree people buying data illegally are part of the problem. Just as in the example of the police though, the institution is the bigger problem. If there are no loopholes at institutional level then the likelihood of loopholes at individual level is reduced. If Econet employees were not selling black market data, there would be no problem to begin with. The problem starts at the organization
      
      Reply
Tafadzwa Rugara

26 August 2020 17:48

My line was also blocked. This is real

Reply
Rudo

26 August 2020 19:56

The thing is these guys were saying the data bundles are sold by econet to the learners. One would never think kuti achabirwa coz most of these guys work for econet.

Reply
joe

27 August 2020 08:50

m too a victim to this pipo them scam me ndamusendera mari for bundless then he blocked my ecocash account threatin to block the whole line plz Econet do something wth dis theaves hw cum they hev access to dat while they are thieves

Reply
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