A male and female suspects have been placed in custody by Police officers stationed at Mulot Police station. According to the police report, Denis Kipkoech Kirui and Sylvia Chepkemoi were allegedly caught in the act of Sim swapping.
Sylvia is reported to have failed to follow the correct procedure when registering an Airtel line on behalf of Dennis. It is due to this act that police on patrol at the Sunset area of Mulot in Bomet County arrested the two. In their possession, the officers found and confiscated copies of identity cards, Airtel sim cards and other items believed to have been used in sim swap fraud activities.
The male suspect Denis, was already on police radar for sim swap fraud. Currently, the suspects remain in custody at Mulot Police Station cells. They had a court hearing on Monday.
“The two were arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations who have been pursuing Kirui. The two are held at Mulot Police Station cells awaiting to be charged in court on Monday,” reads a DCI report.
Back in 2018, a Kenyan blog did an expose on how scammers from Mulot, a small town in Bomet were involved in the SIM swap fraud that saw them mint millions of shillings from unsuspecting Kenyans. Since then, the small town has had numerous incidents of Sim swap fraudsters. Bomet County Police Commander Robinson Ndhiwa says 25 such fraudsters have been arrested by the police in the last five months.
“Police have arrested about 25 of the fraudsters who have been charged in court with swindling unsuspecting members of the public of their hard-earned money,” said Mr Ndhiwa.
READ: 22 Suspects Arrested Over Kenya’s Rampant SIM Swap Fraud
What is Sim Swap
Sim swap is a form of identity theft. The fraudsters replace and take over the mobile phone line of a user. Criminals trick mobile carriers into transferring user phone number to a new SIM card they control. This allows them to intercept one-time passwords, access user online banking profile, and even change account security settings.
Telco’s have come up with ways to mitigate the fraud. One example is Safaricom’s Jitambulishe. However, the menace persists.
To avoid this disastrous activity, it is key to ensure your SIM card has an active SIM lock, use strong passwords and keep personal information off social media.
