This archive report was first published on 6 July 2020.
On July 6, 2020, a doctor in Kenya suffered a significant financial loss after fraudsters used his personal details to register new SIM cards with Safaricom.
Dr. Isaac Kiplimo Ng'etich, a surgeon based in Nakuru, claims that the fraudsters used a fake SIM card to sell his land to an unsuspecting buyer without his knowledge.
According to court documents, the fraudsters used Dr. Ng'etich's personal details to register two new SIM cards, which they used to con people.
The registration was done without Dr. Ng'etich's consent, and the fraudsters used his phone details to initiate a sale transaction involving his land in Nakuru County.
On June 17, 2020, the land was allegedly 'sold' to one Ms. Angelina Chepkemi Sigira for Sh300,000 through M-Pesa.
However, when Ms. Sigira approached Dr. Ng'etich to transfer the land documents to her, he claimed not to be aware of the transaction.
She then reported the matter to the police, which saw Dr. Ng'etich arrested and detained for six hours.
It was after investigations that the police discovered that fraudsters had registered two SIM cards in the name of the surgeon, which they used to defraud Ms. Sigira while masquerading as the land owner.
Dr. Ng'etich was forced to refund Sh300,000 to Ms. Sigira in order to cancel the transaction since he was never interested in selling the land.
He is now accusing Safaricom of negligence for allowing registration of the two SIM cards in his name without his knowledge and without his express authority, which led to his loss, humiliation, and defamation.
Dr. Ng'etich wants the court to issue orders restraining Safaricom from effecting further registration of new and existing subscribers without capturing their biometric data, including fingerprints, palm prints, and face recognition, in addition to personal identification information.
He has listed the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), and the Attorney General as interested parties in the case.
Justice Joel Ngugi directed that the matter be mentioned on July 23, 2020.
