When called on his mobile phone that he was the first K1 million winner of FDH Bank Kukonza Tsogolo promotion on Wednesday, Alfred Lucius Makwasa’s response was lukewarm and when he was further asked where he is based and what was his occupation, the man instantly became very cagey and suspicious.
He retorted back that K1 million was nothing to him, saying he has a lot of money and that “there are a lot of poor people out there — give the money to them, not me,” he had responded.
Tiyese Kaimila explains format of the draw
FDH Bank’s marketing officer, Tiyese Kaimila, instantly realised that the man had reacted that way because he is well aware of the rampant digital fraud system that is currently rocking the country through mobile money services.
The system, which continues to swindle people to date, prompted the authorities to officially alert the unsuspecting public to be wary of unknown callers asking for their personal financial details.
Thus Kaimila quickly assured the man that the Bank would officially communicate to him and that he himself can visit his branch to verify and ended the phone conversation.
And indeed the man, now identified as a Malawi Police Service Sergeant, based at Chikwawa Police Station, has confessed that he responded in that manner because he suspected the caller was a fraudster.
FDH Bank’s Elizabeth Phoya
He has since apologised for his instinctive reaction, saying he is now so excited to be the lucky winner and applauded FDH Bank for the promotion, pledging to maintain his faith in the Bank.
Kaimila also assured the media present during the draw that due to the digital fraud, many such winners become cautious when informed of such fortunes which they never expected, thus his quick response to try and convince Makwasa to contact his FDH Bank branch.
On the commemoration of World Consumer Consumer Rights Day on March 15, Malawi Communications & Regulatory Authority (MACRA) announced that it will establish a digital forensic laboratory with the Malawi Police to counter mobile money fraud.
It includes the registration of every SIM card through the National Identity as well as having its intended phone handset be registered.
The theme of this year’s Consumer Rights Day was ‘Fair Digital Finance’ — which was coined in cognizance of the changing landscape in the marketplace brought about by technological advance.
The technological advancement also brought with it a proliferation in the cases of cybercrime, especially mobile money fraud, more recently due to the CoVID-19 pandemic which saw an increase in the usage of ICTs.
Launched on June 6, the first draw of the FDH Bank Kukonza Tsogolo promo saw 10 other lucky customers winning K100,000 each and 50 to be given two metres of FDH Bank-branded cloth.
Held in FDH Bank’s Head Office boardroom in Blantyre’s central business district (CBD), Senior Manager-Personal & Business Banking (SME), Elizabeth Phoya, said they since the launch they have received “overwhelming participation from customers — both current and new”.
“FDH Bank Plc, as a champion of growth, strives to encourage Malawians to develop an investment culture as it is promotes future security of finances.”
The promo, whose grand prize is K5 million, launched to inculcate a savings culture for both existing and new customers in order to grow and achieve big dreams and future economic security.
Existing customers are being encouraged to enter the promotion by depositing a minimum of K100,000 into their savings account and keep for at least a month while new customers can only join by opening the same savings account with a minimum deposit of K100,000 to stand a chance of winning prizes after also keeping it for one month.
New customers who will be opening an account during the promotion and the K100,000 deposit will get free Standard FDH Mastercard Debit Card.
Phoya emphasized that investment and savings culture remains paramount to the growth of individuals and the country at large and that as a home-grown responsible financial institution, there was need to promote such culture to add value to their lives.
“It truly pays to save at FDH Bank,” she said. “This promotion will run till 30 September and we urge our customers to continue investing and saving with FDH Bank Plc.”
