Phone Scam: How Kenyans Lose Money :: Kenya

Mobile phones in Kenya are like bank accounts – some people keep all their savings on their phones – and fraudsters try to hack them to steal money.

Sammy Wanaina received a text message on Sunday asking him to provide the secret personal code so that his Sim card could be exchanged.

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He was confused, he had not asked for a new card – and a few moments earlier he had ended a call that he was not sure of. he now realized due to a fraudster who had posed as a customer adviser to the telephone company.

"It was a brief appeal and I gave none of my details," Wanaina told the BBC.

He immediately contacted Safaricom, his mobile service provider, to report that he suspected that there was an ongoing fraud attempt on his number.

Despite not giving his details – and reporting fraud to Safaricom – he completely lost access to his number and regained control only after three days.

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He tweeted that all the experience had scared him.

million. Wanaina says that Safaricom contacted him after his complaint and gave him a new SIM card as a precaution – without giving further details on how he lost access to his number.

The company tweeted to tell him that she was "determined to protect customer information and … that we will pursue this business until its conclusion".

"I lost $ 18,000"

His story prompted others to share their experiences – many of whom had lost money in the scam.

Politician Stanley Wanjiku revealed that he had been trapped by fraudsters, losing $ 18,000 (£ 14,000).

He told the Daily Nation newspaper that his problems had started after he had received a notification saying that he could not access his mobile wallet and that he had to call a certain number to reset it – what he did.

He later learned that his Pin number was replaced and that a new one was regenerated, so he could not have access to his money. The newspaper did not say which service he had his account.

"I do not know how my mobile pine money has been regenerated and distributed to outsiders, I do not know how they identified themselves," Wanjiku said, adding that a bank account not related to his mobile phone was also hacked.

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Money by mobile: the M-Pesa revolution

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People tend to have multiple SIM cards from different companies – because they have different covers and offers. This means that SIM cards are damaged, so it is not unusual for customers to want to replace them.

Kenya has the largest number of mobile money users in the world, a major reason why recent sim card fraud has caused such a public alarm.

Nearly half of its 47 million residents use the dominant M-Pesa platform to pay for services and conduct business.

Through partnerships, the telephone companies have also been able to integrate mobile money services with banks, allowing customers to transfer money seamlessly.

William Makatiani, of the cyber security consulting firm Serianu, told the Daily Nation that the scam to hack mobile phones is becoming more commonplace.

"The exchange of SIM cards has become a big problem especially in Nigeria since 2016. It began to gain momentum in Kenya in the last half of last year," he said. he declared.

How to protect yourself

It is not clear how the scam works, but this week the Kenya Communications Authority, the body that regulates the mobile phone industry, told users to be on their guard:

Never give personal information

Do not give your Pin number

Remove requests for financial information or pbadwords

Beware of unsolicited messages.

Safaricom also urged customers to save their pbadwords, birthdates and national identity numbers.

He also stated that subscribers should be aware of his official customer service number so as not to be fooled by those trying to access their account.