Mulot, the unlikely hotbed of rising mobile telephone fraud

They are young, move around in groups and are loaded with money.

Whenever they patronise clubs, they empty them of alcoholic drinks. And they always pay their bills via M-Pesa, never cash.

These young men of Mulot, a dusty trading centre in Bomet County, are loaded with money, going by their spending habits.

But the cash fanning the life in the fast lane comes from mobile phone fraud. Investigations by the Nation have revealed that the young men have turned Mulot into one of the hotspots of mobile phone fraud in the country.

The latest crime involves SIM swapping, a form of fraud in which scammers manipulate unsuspecting mobile phone users to divulge their confidential information. The scammers use this information to replace the SIM cards without the owners’ knowledge.

The new cards are then used to wipe out the clients’ M-Pesa and bank accounts of cash.

REMOTE

It is not known when, how or why Mulot acquired the dubious distinction of being one of the capitals of this fraud. May be because it is too remote, thus, too far from any serious banking fraud detectives.

Or because the large swathes of wheat and maize fields that ring it provide perfect hideouts for the fraudsters. Also, the poverty many youths live in due to lack of decent jobs could be fanning the crime.

The sleepy town is a gateway to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the western tourism circuit.

The ring leaders of the crime have acquired motor vehicles and motor cycles with proceeds from fraud. They have built houses furnished with expensive electronics and furniture.

Most of them are high school and college dropouts who have been lured into cybercrime in a bid to make quick money. Next time you receive a phone call from a person claiming to be working for Safaricom or a local bank seeking to update your online banking details, do not assume it is originating from Kamiti prisoners for that matter.

Chances are that it would be originating from Mulot trading centre, our investigations have shown.

STOLEN DOCUMENTS

Once the criminals have online access to the money, it is wired to various bank accounts registered by the fraudsters using fake or stolen documents. It is then withdrawn from ATMs or M-Pesa shops in various towns. In addition, they borrow from M-Shwari or M-Kesho accounts.

The Nation has learnt that as many as 20 of the criminals squeeze into a room they use as a base for their illegal operations. Some are stationed outside to act as sentries and warn of any impending danger. They have informants within the police service.

At times, they operate from open fields or wheat farms spread across the region.

“In the event that a cow moos or a bird chirps and a victim they are preying on raises an issue on the location of their offices, they lie to them that it is actually a Skiza tune from one of their colleague’s phone which just went off. That is how crafty and creative they can be,” said a source.

One of the ring leaders is said to be a former high school teacher who has recruited college and high school drop- outs into the gang whose numbers keep increasing by the day.

HANDS ARE TIED

Nine criminal investigations officers said to be linked to the fraudsters were transferred out of Narok recently alongside a senior provincial administrator.

Mr Katsoma Karissa, the Narok West assistant county commissioner, said the matter was serious and needed concerted efforts from service providers and the police.

“The provincial administration acts on complaints whenever they are reported and we hand over culprits to the police for investigations and appropriate action. Beyond that, our hands are tied,” Mr Karissa said.

He cautioned wananchi against releasing their bank and mobile phone registration details to strangers.

In mid-2016, an attempt by police officers from Bomet to arrest about 10 of the suspects at a local bar following a tip-off turned tragic when a patron was shot dead as the fraudsters overpowered the security officers.

A police officer was also seriously injured in the incident. A senior police officer said the suspects were tipped off about the raid. They then raised the alarm as the detectives stormed the club claiming the officers were gangsters.

FRAUDSTER ARRESTED

The victims of the fraud include businessmen and high-flying politicians, according to the Nation investigations.

 However, the cases do not come into the public limelight due to the secrecy involved with police going the extra mile to protect the victims and save them the embarrassment.

A former sports secretary was defrauded of over Sh350,000 months ago.

Similarly, a former Permanent Secretary in the South Rift was also swindled out of Sh260,000 by the same fraudster who was arrested with 27 different SIM cards.

And a source told the Sunday Nation that one businessman lost Sh10 million last year to the fraudsters, while another one from Bomet lost Sh341,000.

On a good day, the fraudsters are said to net more than Sh3 million from various victims in and outside the region through the scam.

At the same time, each of the more than 50 suspects move between Sh30,000 and Sh140,000 a day.

“I received a call from a person claiming to be working for Safaricom and he said that the company was undertaking routine maintenance of their system and it had been found that my line had been registered under someone’s else’s name,” Ms Irene Chesang, a victim said.

CATCH UP WITH CRIMINALS

Ms Chesang said the caller requested for her national Identity Card number, order of names in the document and current PIN number of her SIM card, which she promptly gave out.

“Shortly after I gave the details, my line went off for about 20 minutes and when I regained access to it, messages popped up indicating that I had successfully applied for a Sh 73,000 M-Shwari loan while the other stated I had transferred Sh139,000 through M-Pesa to another number,” Ms Chesang stated.

She reported the matter to the police and alerted Safaricom but she could not get her money back. Four months down the line, she is still repaying the loan.

Mr Enock Rugut, an M-Pesa agent in Sotik town, said he lost Sh290,000 to the fraudsters last year.

“I was called by a stranger claiming to be working for Safaricom who demanded my line’s PIN details in the pretext that the company was randomly checking on the details of the agents. After a few minutes, I realised that I had been defrauded of all the cash in the line,” Mr Rugut said.

Mr Nicholas Ng’eno, a Nakuru-based information technology software development and data analyst, said the problem is that technology-wise, the police are always playing catch up with the fraudsters. This makes it difficult for the culprits to be arrested and convicted.

REMEDIAL MEASURES

“Police are unable to track, arrest and prosecute the fraudsters and, as such, some of the officers are joining them because of the huge amounts of money involved. In every one of the cases, there is a police officer actively involved in the fraud,” Mr Ng’eno said.

Because of the complexity of the cases, he added, the customer is usually left on his own with little remedial measures by the mobile phone banking providers. Banks do not reveal the fraud as they do not want the vulnerability of their system made public.

The crime has thrived due to connivance by the fraudsters and employees of banking institutions, mobile phone providers and the police.

 LACK OF EVIDENCE

“The institutions have employed graduates and they pay them poorly yet they have access to customer database. What will stop a poorly paid employee from sharing the confidential details with criminal gangs if the pay is right?” Mr Ng’eno wondered.

Mr Langat, a lawyer based in Bomet, said there was a need for a system to audit the software used in mobile banking and ensure that it is fool proof.

“Police are not equipped with the know-how and technology to deal with cybercrime and, as such, a majority of the suspects arrested in relation to the cases are released for lack of evidence,” Mr Langat said. In Mulot, the fraud has had serious consequences on business.

Even before Safaricom put stringent measures on cash withdrawals and deposits across the country, one could not transact in the centre without an original National ID card due to the fraud.  Most M-Pesa dealers moved away from the trading centre. Consequently, most businesses only deal in cash as everyone is treated with suspicion.