This archive report was first published on 18 June 2020.
Family Bank Client Loses KSh 109,000 After Sharing Personal Details ¶
On June 10th, 2020, Ruth Wamboi, a client of Family Bank in Eldoret, reported that she had lost KSh 109,000 from her account. Investigations revealed that she had shared her personal details with a caller who claimed to be from Safaricom.
According to Family Bank, Wamboi disclosed more than just her ID number to the fraudsters. She also shared her location in Uasin Gishu county, her year of birth, phone PIN number, and airtime balance on her phone.
Wamboi further told the fraudsters that she had accounts in both Family Bank and Post Bank, but had never used mobile banking apps to access her money. The information given out to the fraudsters was easily used to access Wamboi's account through mobile banking, which consequently led to the loss of KSh 109,000.
Family Bank has warned its clients to be careful and avoid falling prey to fraudsters who are out to steal their money using dubious means. The bank has also reminded its customers not to fall prey to fraudsters pretending to work for mobile phone operators, calling them to ask for personal details like PIN numbers.
Family Bank's CEO, Rebecca Mbithi, said in a statement that the incident was reported to them on June 10th, 2020, and their internal checks revealed that the funds were withdrawn via mobile money by the customer's number that is registered on the account.
