In 13 (thirteen) of its markets, Airtel Africa’s groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered spam detection service, Spam Alert, has identified over 205 million spam SMS messages in the past six months.
The Spam Alert Service, free for all subscribers, recognises and prefixes SMS messages with “SPAM Alert” and offers real-time updates, immediately eliminating the need to download extra apps to handle spam.
Thus far, the service has been launched in thirteen of Airtel Africa’s fourteen markets: Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Malawi, Madagascar, DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania, Chad, and Niger. The Seychelles will soon launch.
Top three African countries with the highest spam volume
Kenya recorded the highest spam volume during the review period, with 68 million messages flagged, followed by Tanzania and Zambia, with 47 million and 33 million, respectively.
Nigeria has experienced the most significant drop of 84 per cent in spam messages since the introduction of the Airtel Africa SPAM Alert service, with an overall decrease of 12 per cent.
Airtel Africa CEO, Sunil Taldar, said, “We are proud to pioneer an advanced tech solution powered by AI in tackling spam messages that are a major concern in Africa as smartphone penetration increases. This free service is yet another demonstration of our commitment to consistently innovate to deliver an unmatched experience and safer network to our customers.”
How Airtel Africa’s AI-powered Spam Alert service operates
With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), Airtel Africa’s Spam Alert service analyses and flags SMS messages as “SPAM ALERT” in real time based on factors such as the sender’s usage habits and SMS frequency.
The AI system analyses over 250 parameters, such as sender usage patterns and geographical targeting, to identify suspicious SMS messages.
According to Airtel Africa, this dual-layer protection operates at network and IT systems levels, processing over 1.5 billion messages within just two milliseconds.
Additionally, the service scans incoming SMS messages for malicious links using a centralised database of blocklisted URLs, warning users about potential threats before they click on harmful links.
Spam SMS messages have become widespread in Africa, with nine of the top 20 countries globally experiencing high spam rates as of 2019.
These fraudulent communications often target unsuspecting individuals by impersonating network providers or government entities to extract personal information under false pretences.