[Update]

Econet seems to have quietly patched the bug. Now the app is working as it should be.

Original story

Yesterday we received a tip-off that Yomix seemed to be suffering from a serious bug that was allowing Yomix subscribers to get free data if they followed certain steps that seemed like they were relying on some sort of bug/quark within the app.

We duly ignored the message that is until similar messages started appearing in the tech groups that we are members of. Now the guys in these groups are not the sort of people to be excited about nothing-these are real full-blown nerds who are quite serious about tech. If they said Yomix was dishing out free data due to some sort of bug-then it was true.

So we had a little test of our own and to our shock, our account was credited with weekly WhatsApp bundles even before we could even make payment. We are not going to share details of how the bug can be exploited here, that would be unethical and irresponsible but suffice to say we did not do anything unusual!

There could actually be two bugs

We are very much aware of the “free data” (or possibly “free airtime”) bug but earlier someone had shared another possible bug. This bug according to the person who shared the details, would allow people to buy WhatsApp and other bundles at the very very old prices of aeons ago.

Those who live in this country know how many times the price of data has gone up over the past few months. Our currency has lost over 85% of its value and prices have gone up to reflect this. Last year bundles cost $3 per month now they are just under the $30 mark.

These unscrupulous individuals were selling data at heavily discounted prices that seemed too good to be true. As often happens in nerd circles they were looking for a place to brag and they spilt the beans.

We have been in touch with Econet and will update you when they respond.