This archive report was first published on 18 July 2021.
A GSU officer in Nairobi is reeling after discovering that his ID was used to register 9 SIM cards without his knowledge or consent.
The officer, who wishes to remain anonymous, lost his ID in 2019 and had no idea that it was being used by criminals to register multiple phone lines.
According to the officer, he visited a Telkom shop in Wajir to register a new line, only to be told that his ID had already been used to register 9 other lines.
"I am a worried man, I don’t know what the criminals have done under my name or the number of online loans that have been borrowed with these SIM cards," he told The Standard on July 17.
Telkom has assured the officer that they will de-register the 9 lines, but he remains concerned about the potential consequences of his ID being used by criminals.
"I believe the same must have been registered by "wakora" maybe to solicit money from members of the public or to commit other crimes not known to me," he said in a social media post.
Telkom has defended their registration process, stating that they verify all customer information before registering any line.
"Telkom’s customer registration process is has a clear set of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) guidelines. All telcos work together to review their respective KYCs and share best approaches, to ensure they reflect best practice," said George Mlaghui, Telkom’s director of communication.
However, the GSU officer remains skeptical, and has called on Telkom to inform customers whenever they want to register a new line under their name.
"Maybe Telkom need to take the Safaricom path of informing customers through their original lines whenever they want to register other lines," he suggested.
The incident highlights the growing concern of identity theft and potential criminal activities in Kenya, with many Kenyans losing their IDs and other personal details to fraudsters.
