Senior police officer falls victim to sim-swap fraudsters, loses Ksh.597K

Senior police officer falls victim to sim-swap fraudsters, loses Ksh.597K

A senior police boss in Nairobi has cried foul over the loss of over Ksh.597,000 to a sim-swap fraud syndicate.

Peter Mwanza, who is in charge of the Kasarani police division, told a court in Milimani on Monday on how he fell victim to the fraud scheme.

He testified before magistrate Mary Mwendwa narrating on the ordeal that occurred in January 4, 2022, a process he says happened within six hours.

"Within less than six hours Ksh.597,100 had been transferred from my Equity Bank account to my M-Pesa account and later sent to a number unknown to me and withdrawn in Mulot, Bomet county. How this happened is still a mystery to me," said Mwanzo as quoted by the Daily Nation.

At around 6:45 PM, he said he received a call from an anonymous number which he failed to pick. The phone kept on ringing until he was forced to set his phone on flight mode.

At 6:50 he deactivated the flight mode and his phone failed to pick any network, even after waiting for a couple of hours.

"I rechecked at 9pm and still the mobile phone had no network," Mwanzo stated.

He then visited a Safaricom shop the following day, to establish what might have been at fault with his phone network.

He says he was advised to replace his Sim card since it had failed.

"Upon turning on my phone I was surprised by the messages that started coming in. I tried to purchase airtime and send some money but the transaction failed and got a message that I had exceed my limits," he said.

"I was shocked that I had even registered a Fuliza account and Airtel money. I had never applied for any loan or registered with Airtel."

Still in shock, Mwanzo requested for M-Pesa and Bank statements. They revealed that that the money had been transferred from his bank account to his M-Pesa.

The money was withdrawn from Bomet county by a third party, which was transferred in four quotas.

He the sought help from Criminal intelligence Unit and Safaricom when he was told his Sim Card had been swapped.

Members from Equity Bank, Safaricom and Airtel legal teams were present in the hearing to testify.

Mwanzo was testifying against Gideon Mark, a suspect in the case.

The hearing will continue on June 29.

Tags:

Kasarani police sim-swap

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