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 will offer Airtel smartphone and feature phone customers real-time alerts for suspected spam SMS messages and it will be automatically activated for all Airtel customers.
With Kenya’s mobile phone penetration on the increase, spam messages have become a widespread issue, targeting an expanding demography of unsuspecting individuals. Hundreds of thousands of Kenyans often receive unsolicited nagging promotional SMS or calls.
The service by Airtel Kenya will classify suspicious SMS messages as Suspected SPAM. Without reading specific SMS messages, the AI analyses in real time over 250 parameters, including the sender’s usage patterns such as SMS frequency and geographical spread of targets. 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.
Additionally, the software alerts customers of malicious weblinks received via SMS. For this purpose, 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.
Speaking at the launch of the Airtel AI Spam Alert Service in Nairobi, Airtel Kenya Managing Director, Ashish Malhotra, said: “At Airtel, we are committed to providing innovative solutions that enhance our 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.”
To report fraud, Airtel customers should dial the USSD code *100# and select option 3, Report Fraud.