Sim Swap Fraud: Detectives Bust Scammers in an Illegal Communication Centre in Ruiru

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI) have unearthed an illegal communication center in Ruiru town where Sim Swap fraudsters have reportedly been working from.

Four suspects, who include two females and two males, were arrested during the operation. More than 30,000 SIM cards, 240 iPhones, two laptops, two inverters and other electrical gadgets were also recovered.

Police said the suspects had set up an illegal mobile communications center in the town where they are said to have been carrying illegal activities from for a while.

There was public uproar last month over increased incidents of fraudulent SIM card swaps that saw several Kenyans lose millions of shillings through mobile phone transactions.

So far several suspects including Safaricom employees have been arrested and arraigned in court over the scam. 

In the scam, a fraudster usually make calls posing as an employee of a mobile network operator then asks unsuspecting mobile subscribers to share their Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

Once they obtain the PII, the fraudster then proceeds to swap the SIM card thereby gaining full access to all the SIM services including mobile money transfer, mobile and internet banking, voice calls, SMS, data services and any other service that can be accessed via the SIM card.

They them make quick withdrawal of cash before the subscriber regains control of their Sim cards.