Reports on social media on Wednesday evening indicate Cab-hailing platform Bolt (formerly Taxify) may have been hacked. However, the company has quickly come out to deny the story claiming that it had not been hacked.
Everyone UNLINK your CARD FROM TAXIFY NOW!
They’ve been hacked and several people are getting debited.
— Nickduchess ? (@SheLovesArtemis) September 25, 2019
– Bolt App ( formerly Taxify ) server has allegedly been hacked ,as clients claim to be getting debit alerts. pic.twitter.com/zvNAfhVChT
— SubDeliveryZone (@SubDeliveryZone) September 25, 2019
To unlink or remove your credit card from Bolt(Taxify)
please follow these steps:
1.Go to the Main Menu and select Payments
2.Swipe the line with a card number to the left
3.The delete option will
Retweet>>>>>>>>
— Louis~Pr? (@luwie_zz) September 25, 2019
Bolt quickly issued a statement denying the story. According to the company, its platform was not hacked. The statement, however, acknowledged that Bolt’s payment service provider might be experiencing some technical glitches “which we are trying to clarify”.
Bolt (Taxify) has not been hacked. Also, we do not store credit card data. Our payments provider is possibly experiencing issues which we are trying to clarify. pic.twitter.com/MGwKPiwUGs
— Bolt Nigeria (Taxify) (@Boltapp_ng) September 25, 2019
Be rest assured that Bolt (formerly Taxify) has not been hacked nor has customer payment information been compromised
— Bolt Nigeria (Taxify) (@Boltapp_ng) September 25, 2019
Nairametrics initially reported social media accounts that the platform’s website may have been hacked however Bolt’s press release has now confirmed that the website was not hacked. Whilst this is the official position, it did not reveal who their payment partners are and whether the payment partner was hacked or what may have caused the issues.
Why this matters: Cybercrime has been rampant across the globe as cybercriminals hack websites of e-commerce websites to steal millions of user data. Even internet giants such as Facebook have experienced the wrath of hackers and have deployed several tools to avoid future occurrences. Bolt is one of the most widely used Car hailing service in Nigeria and would have sparked a major frenzy had the application been hacked as allegedly rumored on social media.