E-Business
Taxify’s Money Zapping Bug

Once upon a time I received an unsolicited email from a company called Taxify that had just entered the Nigerian market but I found the mail interesting because it was about another taxi hailing company ready to give Uber a fight for its money.
Since Uber launched in the Nigerian market, we had seen a number of other taxi hailing services disappear most notably easytaxi, so the market became more or less a monopoly which I believe does not benefit the consumer neither does it help the economy.
After a few back and forth with some of the guys running the operations, I decided to give Taxify a shot and found it pretty much effective as well as cheaper than Uber considering the fact that a number of drivers worked for both companies.
From that moment on I started doing more of Taxify and less of Uber but I missed one thing and that was of the fact that Taxify only accepted cash something I was no longer used to.
So I wrote them asking for card payment option, I jumped in as soon as it was available and started using card instead of cash. The first shocker I experienced was that the drivers were not properly briefed about the card payment development so each time they dropped me off, I usually hear something like “Oga money” and I’d then take the pains to explain that it is a card trip (let’s just regard this as one of the teething problem of an economy trying to go cashless).
Anyways fast forward to a later date, I had already taken multiple trips that were billed to my card, then all of a sudden I started receiving notifications of fresh deductions even when I did not take any trips. I had about 7 or so deductions before I suddenly realized that I had to take action.
I thought about a number of options but concluded that the best option was simply empty the account so whatever bug (as the team called it) sucking my account will have nothing more to suck.
Lesson learnt: until our digital economy matures more, I’d only connect my secondary ATMs to avoid issues such as this.
In one of my mails to the taxify team, I described the experience as follows “….as soon as I noticed the way deductions were happening, I made a wise decision of emptying that account, so I moved all funds from that account linked to my visa card into another account. So I effectively cut of the bloodstream that rendered powerless, that bug of yours that want to keep feeding fat on my account.
This is basically why I have tagged this article, Taxify’s Money Zapping Bug. The bug has actually refused that I delete my card from the taxify app, so I had to deactivate the card from the bank end so I can resume using my account again.
Well, the Taxify team has assured me that the money zapping bug has been tamed and no longer on the prowl. However, the next painful part is that I have now been subjected to the painful process of filling forms for all the multiple deductions and have been mandated to provide the following information; Name/Phone Number on your Taxify Account/Email Address/Bank/Account Name/Account Number/Amount Debited/Number of times charged, if I want a refund.
Quite frankly, I am yet to get this done after about a week or so of receiving that update from the team because it is simply a painful process and this is the kind of experience an average Nigerian customer is subjected to by various organisations.
If this had happened in Europe where Taxify originates from, I am sure they will not dare ask any customer to fill any form, rather, they will take the pain to identify the double deductions and refund riders or compensate them somehow.
Beyond just writing about the experience, I imagine for one that this might have happened to someone who barely trusts using his or her card online. Should that be the case, why should anyone blame such a person or Nigerians for actually being afraid of using their cards online? Any wonder why we have an abysmally low number of cards being used online.
If a brand like Taxify can deduct one’s cash arbitrarily and subject him or her to searching out the deductions weeks after, then it is certainly a sad development indeed.
I think it’s time we begin to sue service providers for various breaches and corporate misdemeanor and this to me is one of those. Until I decide how best to deal with this situation, I am simple thrilled that I have been delivered from Taxify’s Money Zappying Bug!
CFA is the Founder, www.CFAtech.ng & Co-producer/Presenter,Tech Trends on Channels Television
E-Business
Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.
China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.
The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.
“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.
It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.
Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.
Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.
Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.
A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.
“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.
Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.
Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.
It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.
Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.
E-Business
NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.
According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.
NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”
The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.
E-Business
NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.
The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.
The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.
In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.
“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.
Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.
“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.
He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework. He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.
According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.
Earlier in her opening remarks, Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.
Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.
“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”
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