This archive report was first published on 17 July 2021.
On July 17, 2021, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested a 21-year-old suspect in Juja, believed to have hacked into the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) system.
The suspect, identified as Kiprop, allegedly gained access to IEBC's database and acquired personal details of 61,617 registered voters from a county in western Kenya.
According to the DCI, Kiprop was operating a high-tech mobile phone scam syndicate, using the fraudulently acquired personal details to convince customer service agents that they were the true owners of the line.
Upon successful SIM swapping, the suspect was granted full access to the victim's online accounts.
The DCI recovered a gunny bag full of SIM cards belonging to Safaricom, Airtel, and Telcom mobile phone service providers during the arrest.
The suspect was arrested after a joint operation by detectives and Safaricom investigators, following a swindle of an Mpesa agent.
