Fraudsters are back in town! This time they are targeting the mobile money transfer system leaving a lot of small business owners to count heavy losses. How is this happening? We detail below in simple terms;

Normal mobile money transactions process involve one being given a merchant code and entering the code on one’s own phone and then showing the business owner a message that confirms money transfer.

The owner of the business checks with own phone to verify and confirm receipt before handing over goods to complete a sale.

How the system is being rigged

Fraudsters have developed an app that generates a fake mobile money transfer message which they keep in their phones. They produce and show the message to unsuspecting business owners purporting to have transferred money to purchase goods.

Business owners who are not alert may handover goods and complete a sale without checking whether they have received a confirmation message. Failure to check the message is resulting in a large number of business owners falling prey to fraudsters. Those targeted are small tuck-shop owners and small shops. Yesterday we heard a story of someone who lost goods valued at $500 and various stories of others falling for the same trick. For a small business, this kind of loss can throw the whole business under a bus!

Be vigilant

Confirm receipt of money transfer from customers by checking your phone. Do not be in a rush and sell goods before you have received money through transfer. In case of network problems, it is better to suspend sales than to lose goods to fraudsters.

Mobile Money Companies

This is not the first time for members of the public to lose funds to fraudsters. You have a moral responsibility to protect the integrity of the money transfer system and one way to do this is through publicity campaigns warning members of the public of unscrupulous elements using the system and putting in place monitoring systems. You should work hand n glove with the police because many businesses are folding due to these fraudsters who in most cases buy goods in bulk. Imagine the damage to peri-urban and rural business owners?

ZBIN will therefore be creating an online petition on our Facebook Page  to mobile companies to take corrective action to protect the integrity of the mobile money system. They should monitor their systems and help sensitize members of the public of risks coming from those abusing their systems. A monthly message to all subscribers warning them of fraudsters on the prowl will not cost them a fortune but will help save thousands of dollars for small business owners.

Do you remember the video of Julius Malema’s EFF and the H&M saga? That is a classic example of marketing gone wrong! Marketers had designed a controversial advert hoping to generate huge traffic through controversy-unfortunately it ended up stirring trouble across the globe and South Africa was not spared. You do not want such bad publicity when you are an entrepreneur because it can destroy your business overnight. So how does an entrepreneur create a business post or advert that goes viral without creating unnecessary controversy?

Our case study
The following post has been trending in Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa,  Trinidad and Tobago, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We did post it on Wednesday evening  and the objective being for business followers to while up time and have fun. It also provided useful insights on Digital Marketing.

The question
……………………………………………
Fast Thinking Required: What will be your best option?
Answer A: Stop
Answer B: Proceed.
Answer C: Reverse and drive Back.
Answer D: Hoot and scare the lions

………………………………………………………….

Why did thousands of people respond to the above posts in different countries at the same time?

• Emotions:It draws emotions (fear). Lions draw attention and bringing fear to most people-they represent danger!
• Numbers Game: The fact that the number of lions is more magnifies the fear(emotions). If it was one lion…the response would have been minimal. The more the lions, the greater the danger and the greater the curiosity and responses.
• Risk Taking Decision: The post asks one to make a decision which can be potentially dangerous (Possibility of getting killed or injured by the lions or the lions killing or injuring you)
• Concerned Parties: Concerned parties in the adverts are animal lovers who are forced to respond due to the implication of the advert on animal issues. The implication of someone harming the lions is too ghastly to contemplate-perhaps this maybe the little controversial part of the advert.
• Vulnerability: The vulnerability of the lone car brings emotions of empathy-will the person survive? One car versus more than 9 lions?
• Real Life: You have been asked to be part of the action, you have to make a life saving hasty decision. You can therefore visualize yourself in this real life experience where the focus is on YOU with implications on YOU and NINE lions!
• Its Science: We will explain the analysis above in  our book on investment opportunities coming at the end of next week

Science Behind Digital Marketing

The bottom line in Digital Marketing is that you would like to increase sales! You like to convert interest in an advert into sales for your business and not for people to just see posts or adverts. You therefore need to appreciate Traffic generation,Lead generation,Lead nurturing,Conversions and Measuring. Digital Marketing has a lot of science or art behind it as shown in our viral advert which went viral across the region. This is our third viral advert with the first one attracting millions of views leading to one of our most successful initiatives ever on rug making.

We will explain more on the art and science of designing adverts and also converting them into real business in our book on investment opportunities coming in a few days time. Its a book you pray that your competitors do not get hold of! More trainings on Digital Marketing coming during the month of February.We encourage you to attend trainings in your local areas, read books and research more on this interesting topic.

Below we feature a select few responses from the thousands of responses our posts received…Africans and citizens of Trinidad and Tobago indeed have a bagful humour!

South Africa

Andy Claude Moodley E …GET my mother-in-law to take of make-up and scare those beautiful cats

Simosakhe Chamane Park the car on the side of the road and walk toward the lion greet n play with them

Ntando Tdoz Ntuli Lions get distracted by noise so it will be D

Junaid Yunus Soni B – Coz I’ll be like you better move it or lose it, you vicious man-eating, obstruction-causing carnivores!!!

Erna Kauendji Well i just hope i wont have a breakdown or the engine catches fire. Strange things happen when it is least expected.

Nelson Natasen Spin that car right there , and get the hell out

Avela Tatakamzontsundu Tuta And sing the song (waphuma u Daniel )

Buda Motswiri Proceed nd rev the engine high,wil scare the lions

Malawi

Dhiren Thakrar A. Its a rare sight so i would stop and enjoy the moment!

Elsmore Mtheto Mwenecho PRAY FOR MERCY AS YOU PROCEED

Zaheer Kara make the car fly over them lions like the Sci-Fi movies..problem solved

Cuthbert Chiumia B forward ever backward never no matter the storm stay focused on the goal

Nganya Munyithu Approach slowly. Get out of car and ask what’s for lunch today

Chikko Sekani If you are a trained driver then its not about best option its about what the rules or the laws say.

Fundo Chiwaula WG Go close, stop and step out of the car and greet them

Kambale Ulemu Continue moving forward at a high speed, ithawa yokha mikangoyo.

Smith Banda You just stop A I had the same scenario in mikumi national park in Tanzania I met 2 lions sleeping in the middle of the road at night I just stopped and waited for close to 15 minutes till they moved out of the road themselves.

Arrow Man None of the above. The best is is to stop . take a selfie with them lions . And post on social media captions ..#afewcandothis

Fumban Dicquez Drive slowly and talk to the lions nicely….they will pave way….kkkkkk

Namibia

Jay Hedge Lions are strong but only relative to the animals they hunt. Unless you are driving an open-top car or a pick up without a canopy and there are passengers at the back, there’s absolutely no reason to fear this encounter. Its very unlikely that these lions will attack the car. Just keep the doors locked, windows up and approach at a slow speed while hooting gently. Surely they will move out of the way.

Yolande L Fourie Stop! Enjoy the moments! At the rate they are killed in Namibia , you will only be seeing them on the covers of some books soon.

Nancy Carine C. What if there are more waiting ahead?

Trevor Ncube Non of the above.in such a fast big moving object,lions will go out of the road hence for safety of the car and lions one can hoot to give a warning of the incoming vehicle.

Shahbaz Ali Drive slow close to them take some pictures buye go Ahead ….?

Sandratjiuira Kapazu Kaurandua C….but if i have people at the back I will reverse n back..if nobody at the back the answer is C

Franz Tumuna E…will get out and scare them away

Bernice Grobler Sit and watch them for the whole time tbey are there

Werner Abraham Proceed but very fast and hold the steering very well and hoot, they will run away.

Werner Abraham If you happen to go for other option then you are finished, if you proceed fast and hoot, they will run for their life, they will see that this coming thing is also serious, they will not have other option other then to run away, remember that they are also alive and can be in fear also.

Zambia

Ituri Ole Semuliki Approach the lions in full speed, lights on hooting @ 100kph.

Oni Kappisy Mutelele I was once in such a situation….. Just drive proceed slowly

Andy Mphande Make sure the windows are closed and drive at a fast good speed so that you don’t crush otherwise it’s tricky

Godfrey Nchemba Show the lions you are man enough. Come out of the car and say hello. . Politely ask them to give you way. Kwamana. All the best.

Ntombi Dlamini E. Drive like Schumacher and see what happens

Kamfwa Mubanga Hamooya D, lions are not like elephants. Elephants you stop wether you like it or not.

Davies Lunda Lions are not so scary, you just drive by_passing them at a moderate speed but keep on honking

Musa Kalinda If you have been to Dar es salaam before we pass through a park called mikumi……thy always come by the road side….just stop and do not anything….stay put no noise…..A distance away….thy leave the road eventually.

Musa Kalinda I have been in such an encounter before…..basically stop thy go out of the road…..just stay a distance away

Andy Mphande Make sure the windows are closed and drive at a fast good speed so that you don’t crush otherwise it’s tricky