MTN South Africa - Empowered Outsoursing Fraud

nikkinot2b

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I am writing on behalf of my father, regarding a distressing issue we are encountering with an MTN account associated with his now deactivated mobile number.

Since February 2023, my mother’s bank account has been debited for services related to MSISDN 078*******, which is supposedly linked to a 40GB data SIM card. My father has no recollection of authorizing or requesting this card. In April 2023, I dealt with a Denisha from Empowered Outsource via email who mentioned that she would retrieve the call records from their call center for confirmation; however, we have yet to receive any updates on this matter.

Furthermore, I would like to clarify that my father has not taken delivery of this card, as the delivery method specified was "in-store pickup." Given this, we are keen to understand the following:

  1. Who is the individual who created the order for the SIM card, and where does he work?
  2. Who is currently in possession of this SIM card, considering my father has not received it?
  3. Can you clarify the billing details, particularly why the amounts have varied each month rather than remaining at a fixed rate? The order documentation indicates a recurring amount of R199 and a bill limit of R3851. We would appreciate an explanation regarding this discrepancy.

This situation has been ongoing for over a year already, and we are requesting a full refund for all the payments made to date. It is disheartening to note that my mother has been forced to initiate debit order reversals, incurring additional costs.


The lack of responsiveness following our inquiries with Denisha and Shane Dhirilall from Empowered Outsourcing and Nicolene Britoe and Riana Mall from MTN is concerning, especially in light of Denisha’s indication that the activation of this SIM card may have been due to an MTN system error, which the Constantia MTN team has contested.


Given that my parents are pensioners, the financial burden of these unexpected deductions is significant, and it is crucial that we resolve this matter promptly.


I kindly request your urgent assistance in addressing this issue and providing a resolution. We have a trail of emails beginning from April 2023, with our last follow-up documented in August 2023, which I can share for reference if needed.
 
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I would remove your dads name and number if I were you. No need for that.
 
I would just go and do a sim swap on the missing sim, at least then you have it and can use it.
My dad is no longer using his MTN number, The problem is the data sim that was activated on his name. He has been charged for it since 2023 and he has never taken possession of the sim card
 
Most likely one of MTN's very sketchy outsourced call centre agents contacted your dad and tricked him into taking out a contract. Once signed up they are impossible to get hold of or hold accountable because MTN doesn't give two shts about customer service these days.

You need to go into an MTN direct store and query it there because via phone or email is just about pointless because they will leave you on hold for an eternity and then hand you from department to department and via email they will never reply to your emails.
 
Tried that. No luck. MTN shares customer's details with third parties and then the customer is expected to resolve issues created by these third parties. Worst part is that these third parties have no contact details. All communication is done via email so they are very well protected.
When you received emails from "Empowered Solutions", what was the email domain? (the part after the @ sign). Maybe we can sleuth our way into tracking down the actual company.
 
Maybe try to go to an MTN "main store"


Most likely one of MTN's very sketchy outsourced call centre agents contacted your dad and tricked him into taking out a contract. Once signed up they are impossible to get hold of or hold accountable because MTN doesn't give two shts about customer service these days.

You need to go into an MTN direct store and query it there because via phone or email is just about pointless because they will leave you on hold for an eternity and then hand you from department to department and via email they will never reply to your emails.
Thanks. We've gone into the store. They couldn't help us. My dad has no recollection of agreeing to a contract. Even so, he has never taken ownership of the sim card in question, and it is in use.
 
Thanks. We've gone into the store. They couldn't help us. My dad has no recollection of agreeing to a contract. Even so, he has never taken ownership of the sim card in question, and it is in use.
Was it a franchised MTN store or MTN direct store?
The former will be useless but the latter can normally make some headway because you are dealing with actual MTN staff.
 
Was it a franchised MTN store or MTN direct store?
The former will be useless but the latter can normally make some headway because you are dealing with actual MTN staff.
Its a direct store. Staff were super helpful. Unfortunately they don't deal with fraud cases. Gave me details of people to contact. I've followed up numerous times - no reply. And in the mean time my parents' bank account keeps being debited.
 
I am writing on behalf of my father, regarding a distressing issue we are encountering with an MTN account associated with his now deactivated mobile number.

Since February 2023, my mother’s bank account has been debited for services related to MSISDN 078*******, which is supposedly linked to a 40GB data SIM card. My father has no recollection of authorizing or requesting this card. In April 2023, I dealt with a Denisha from Empowered Outsource via email who mentioned that she would retrieve the call records from their call center for confirmation; however, we have yet to receive any updates on this matter.

Furthermore, I would like to clarify that my father has not taken delivery of this card, as the delivery method specified was "in-store pickup." Given this, we are keen to understand the following:

  1. Who is the individual who created the order for the SIM card, and where does he work?
  2. Who is currently in possession of this SIM card, considering my father has not received it?
  3. Can you clarify the billing details, particularly why the amounts have varied each month rather than remaining at a fixed rate? The order documentation indicates a recurring amount of R199 and a bill limit of R3851. We would appreciate an explanation regarding this discrepancy.

This situation has been ongoing for over a year already, and we are requesting a full refund for all the payments made to date. It is disheartening to note that my mother has been forced to initiate debit order reversals, incurring additional costs.


The lack of responsiveness following our inquiries with Denisha and Shane Dhirilall from Empowered Outsourcing and Nicolene Britoe and Riana Mall from MTN is concerning, especially in light of Denisha’s indication that the activation of this SIM card may have been due to an MTN system error, which the Constantia MTN team has contested.


Given that my parents are pensioners, the financial burden of these unexpected deductions is significant, and it is crucial that we resolve this matter promptly.


I kindly request your urgent assistance in addressing this issue and providing a resolution. We have a trail of emails beginning from April 2023, with our last follow-up documented in August 2023, which I can share for reference if needed.
Hi there

Please pop me a PM, I'll get someone to contact you regarding this matter. To anybody reading this, I am only offering to assist with this as I view fraudulent activities as a scourge that needs to be eradicated. To anybody reading this - I haven't been a rep on this forum in over a decade, so I am unable to respond to your complaints in an official capacity, I would suggest following the social media routes for enquiries.
 
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