Airtel Kenya unveils AI-Powered Spam Alert Service to enable customers flag potential spam messages

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 7 – Airtel Kenya has launched a ground-breaking artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Spam Alert Service which will be available to all its subscribers at no cost, the service which offers Airtel smartphone and feature phone customers real-time alerts for suspected spam SMS messages requires no additional application downloads and is automatically activated for all Airtel customers.

Spam in the context refers to unsolicited SMS messages to phones, often from fraudsters and scammers usually socially engineered and potentially lead to harvesting of data, spreading malware and swindling of money from unsuspecting mobile users.

Additionally spam messages are also characterised of unsolicited promotional marketing messages which are oftentimes annoying, with also receive duping messages and calls from con artists who have mastered the art of stealing from unsuspecting individuals where users are asked to click on links and provide personal information which could end up leading to them being defrauded.

The Airtel AI Spam Alert Service is designed to filter all SMS through a proprietary dual-layer protection one layer at the network level and the other at the IT systems level processing over 18 million messages, each in 2 milliseconds.

Furthermore, the software alerts customers of malicious weblinks received via SMS for instance a centralized database of blacklisted URLs is maintained and by scanning every SMS in real time the AI system can warn users against accidentally clicking on suspicious links.

Airtel Kenya Managing Director, Ashish Malhotra while speaking during the launch said that the telecommunication company is committed to providing innovative solutions that enhance its customer experience.

“The AI spam alert service is the first of its kind in the Kenyan market and it fosters our dedication towards groundbreaking solutions aimed at better customer experience with the new AI-powered spam alert, we are enabling our customers to be more vigilant to fraud attempts on their phones and to have a better experience of our services”, said Ashish.

Subscribers of the Airtel SIM services will access the AI-powered spam alert service as a value-added feature of their subscription at no extra cost.

”To report fraud, Airtel customers should dial the USSD code *100# and select option 3, Report Fraud”.