A 25-year-old woman who is suspected of stealing over Sh600,000 through SIM swap fraud is being detained by detectives.
On Monday, August 26, police said the woman was taken into custody in the Kapchumbe area of Chepalungu, Bomet County.
She was involved in a number of SIM swap incidents where unwary Kenyans lost as much as Sh600,000.
When a SIM swap scam is successful, the victim’s phone number is taken over by cybercriminals, who then use it to access the victim’s bank accounts and sensitive personal information using mobile banking apps that are available for Android and other smartphones.
After gaining control of the switched SIM card, they put it into their phone, gain access to the bank accounts, and move all the money to other phone numbers that are being used in scams.
And when the cash is withdrawn, they switch off the stolen cards frustrating efforts by detectives to track them down.
Detectives have established that dozens of other Kenyans have been defrauded by the multi-faced gang and now want the victims to report to the Operations Branch at the DCI headquarters.
In the latest case, police said they recovered four mobile phones and 27 SIM cards from the woman.
According to police, during interrogation, it was revealed that the suspect had been on the run after stealing money from unsuspecting people.
She has been linked to fraud cases of Sh351,000 in Maua, Sh210,000 at Nyayo Police Station in Nairobi, Sh20,217 at Molo Police Station, and Sh27,000 at Central Police Station in Nairobi.
Police said no cash was recovered, but a signed inventory book was found at the scene.
The suspect was taken to the station pending further action.
This is in the wake of the revelation by police that obtaining money by false pretence, bank fraud and land fraud are the three leading economic crimes reported to the DCI.
To avoid such incidents, officials advise one to ensure their SIM cards have active SIM locks, use strong passwords and keep personal information off social media.
The actual extent of the fraud has however not been established due to underreporting, and in some cases, failure to report such crimes to the police.
According to a report compiled by the DCI such crimes were underreported and in some cases not reported in good time thus negatively affecting effective investigations.
Police say some victims or the affected parties were reluctant to report due to business risks in their endeavour to save their brand names and business image.
Fear of adverse publicity, embarrassment and shying off in court process are some of the challenges the DCI is facing in investigating such crimes.
The DCI says some of the emerging economic crimes, which are recognized in some jurisdictions were yet to be domesticated in Kenya, posing another challenge, especially in a country where criminals are adept at exploiting loopholes in regulations.
