By Adedapo Adesanya
The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) company has introduced staff verification code to protect unsuspecting customers from fake and unscrupulous members of the public masquerading themselves as staff of the company in order to defraud Nigerians.
The new development was launched at the corporate headquarters of the company in Port Harcourt by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Henry Ajagbawa.
Mr Ajagbawa said the technology was imperative given the threats posed by unscrupulous members of the public masquerading themselves as staff of PHED, stating that the staff verification code would unmask the culprits.
The PHED boss also explained that to authentic a real staff of the company, three steps must be followed.
These steps are “Step 1: The staff would send an SMS starting with S alongside his/her identity number to 09088764685.
“Step 2: A six-digit code would be generated and be given to the customer who would, in turn, type the letter I in upper case alongside the generated code and SMS to the same phone number – 09088764685.
“Step 3: A message would be received by the customer showing every information such as name, location, department, zone among others about the staff.”
Also speaking, the Acting Manager, Corporate Communications, PHED, Mrs Chioma Aninwe, explained that with the above steps, customers can authenticate the particulars of the staff confirming him/her as real.
Mrs Aninwe also disclosed that the staff verification code was in the series of technological improvement embarked upon by the company aimed at serving its customers seamlessly in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers states.
