Arise Exclusives

Yahaya Mohammed: Bolt Has Blocked Accounts, Traced  IP Addresses Involved In Fake Requests

Nigeria Country Manager at Bolt, Yahaya Mohammed, has addressed the issue of fake ride requests and cancelling which rose sharply on the platform in Nigeria and South Africa in the past few days. 

According to Mohammed, the company has taken steps to block accounts involved in this trend and is working to prevent future occurrences.

Mohammed in an interview with ARISE News on Friday explained that he became aware of the situation through messages, both internally and externally, and immediately sought a solution.

“This thing has happened as early as 6 am in the morning, and I tried figuring out a solution through my internet channels,” he said.

Regarding an incident where a driver in South Africa drove 50 kilometers to pick up a customer, only to find out it was a fake request, Mohammed said, “The driver getting a request 50km from his point of location is actually something that should not be accepted by the driver.”

Mohammed emphasised that drivers have the ability to set a kilometer rate for accepting rides, with a minimum of 2 kilometers and a recommended 4 kilometers.

“So if you get anything absurd like 50 kilometers, we don’t expect you to actually take that because you would drive for about 1 hour and will not really get compensated for that long distance pick-up,” he said.

Mohammed also addressed the issue of international ride bookings, which Bolt encourages.

“We are available in 50 countries, and many people, until recently when we had this abuse, the feature has worked for a lot of people,” he said.

To trace and block fake ride requests, Bolt uses a combination of tracking high volumes of orders and restricting IP addresses.

“We just able to track high volume of orders being made without having any finishes, just ordering and not actually completing the rides, and you are doing it cross-country,” Mohammed explained.

“All we do is try to block volumes of where these orders are coming from for both Nigeria and South Africa, and the second and more permanent solution was to trace IP addresses from both countries and restrict them from ordering outside the country.”

Regarding punishments for permanently blocked users, Mohammed said, “Investigation would be done internally, and obviously, everything would be analysed on a core hard basis on how you ordered, and past history of performance with riders.”

Mohammed also hinted at possible compensation for drivers who went on wasted trips.

 “In-depth analysis of the rides that were booked and the kilometers wasted during the journey and seeing whether there is room for that, but at the moment, it is something that is currently being discussed, and the communication would go out to the drivers in 3 days.”

To prevent similar incidents in the future, Bolt will implement more restricted access, particularly for international feeds.

“Going forward, we would have more restricted access in terms of particularly these two countries, whenever you have international feeds, though it’s not ultimately an error on the app,” Mohammed said.

Boluwatife Enome

Follow us on:

Boluwatife Enome

View Comments

  • Custom Auctions Is Up Again and Granting Nigerians the

    Privilege to Own Vehicles at Affordable Rates.AUCTION OF DIRECT TOKUNBO IMPORTED VEHICLES (2024 AUCTIONING) IS CURRENTLY GOING NOW!!! .
    ROOFING SHEETS DIFFERENT TYPES AVAILABLE.
    IMPORTEDED VEHICLES & DIFFERENT TYPES OF GENERATORS, AUCTION PHONE'S. FOR SALE AT CHEAP AND AFFORDABLE AUCTION PRICE INTERESTED BUYER SHOULD KINDLY CONTACT US ON O8O__6739__9O9O
    BAGS OF RICE AND VEGETABLE OIL FOR SALE IN A CHEAP AND AFFORDABLE PRICE, BUYER SHOULD CONTACT US ON O8O__6739__9O9O
    ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR SALES.
    SOME OF THE AVAILABLE VEHICLES AND THEIR AUCTION PRICES ARE:
    Toyota 4Runner #950,000
    Toyota Avalon #900,000
    Toyota Avensis #950,000
    Toyota Camry tiny light #450,000
    Toyota Camry muscle #1.3m /spider #1.8m
    Toyota Camry Big daddy #650,000
    Toyota Corolla le #800,000. Corolla S, #1.2m
    Toyota FJ Cruiser #1.1M
    Toyota Hiace #4m
    Toyota Highlander #2.5m
    Toyota Hilux #2.2m
    Toyota Matrix #600,000
    Toyota Prado #2m
    Toyota Rav4 #650,000
    Toyota Sequoia #950,000
    Toyota picnic #670,000
    Toyota Sienna #600,000/#950,000/#1.4m
    Toyota Tacoma #2.7m.
    Toyota Tundra #2.5M.
    Toyota Venza #2.4M
    Toyota Yaris #900,000
    Volkswagen Golf 2,3,4 #250,000/350,000/#450,000/
    Volkswagen Passat/wagon #500,000.
    Volkswagen Touareg #600,000
    Acura MDX #1.3
    Acura TL #1M
    Acura ZDX #2M
    Audi A4 #500,000
    Audi A6 #650,000
    BMW 3-Series #650,000
    BMW 5-Series #980,000
    Ford Escape #600,000
    Ford Explorer #900,000
    Honda Baby Boy #500,000
    Honda Accord 03 EOD #860,000
    Honda Civic #500,000
    Honda Crosstour #1.2M
    Honda CR-V #750,000
    Hyundai Accent #950,000.
    Infiniti FX35 #1M
    Infiniti FX45 #1.2M
    Land Rover Discovery #3M
    Lexus ex 300 #800,000
    Lexus Rx330,#1.5m
    Lexus Rx350,#3.5m
    Lexus Rx400, #4m
    RANG ROVER SPORT =#5M.
    Land Rover LR3 #2m950,000.
    MERCEDES BENZ DIFFERENT MODEL.
    NOTICE: THE PRICE OF THOSE VEHICLES DEPEND ON THEIR YEAR MODEL.

Recent Posts

Man Killed by Own Explosives in Attempted Attack on Brazil’s Supreme Court

A man attempting to bomb Brazil's Supreme Court was killed by his own explosives in…

29 mins ago

Republicans Secures 218 US House Seats, Handing Donald Trump, the Party Control of Government

Republicans have gained a majority in the US House with 218 seats, granting Donald Trump…

33 mins ago

NNPC, Dangote Refinery Sign 10-Year Gas Supply Deal to Enhance Production

NNPC and Dangote Refinery have agreed on a decade-long gas supply deal aimed at increasing…

37 mins ago

Governor Otti Assures Success of Aba’s Inaugural International Trade Fair

Governor Otti has assured local and international businesses of a great experience at the inaugural…

52 mins ago

Egbetokun Urges Nigerians to Reflect on Their Responsibilities Before Criticising Government

Egbetokun has stressed that Nigerians should focus on their responsibilities before criticising government, linking governance…

54 mins ago

NDLEA, NAFDAC Sign MoU to Combat Drug Abuse, Enhance Public Health Safety in Nigeria

NDLEA and NAFDAC has signed an MoU to enhance intelligence sharing, tackle drug abuse, trafficking,…

58 mins ago