Econet Wireless Zimbabwe hit by data breach exposing over 850K customers

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the country's largest mobile network operator, has experienced a major data breach affecting 852,791 customers.

The incident, discovered on February 7, 2025, represents one of the most significant telecommunications data breaches in African history. Hackers are threatening to sell the compromised customer database on underground markets.

The exposed data types and the nature of the attack are not disclosed.

Econet has denied any breach of their internal network. The company also confirmed that it had informed regulators and relevant authorities about the incident and is working closely with them as investigations continue.

While Econet dismissed the claims of breach, their statement is carefully worded not to include any thrid parties or partners. It did not address concerns raised by customers who have reported receiving suspicious messages from unknown numbers in recent weeks. These reports have fueled speculation about the origin of the alleged data leak and whether third-party systems linked to Econet could be compromised.