This archive report was first published on 4 September 2019.
On September 4, 2019, a citizen received a phone call from a man claiming to be from Safaricom, sparking concerns about SIM card swap fraud.
The caller, who identified himself as Ephanstus from Safaricom, asked the citizen for personal details, including their ID number and SIM card information.
When the citizen asked the caller how he knew they were in Nairobi, he replied that he could see from his 'system' that they were indeed in the city.
However, the caller's true intentions were soon revealed when he asked the citizen for their ID number, a clear attempt to gain access to their personal information.
The citizen, aware of the risks of SIM card swap fraud, provided a fake ID number to see how the caller would react.
Despite being told that the citizen's details were already in the system, the caller continued to ask for sensitive information, including the serial number of their SIM card and their PIN numbers.
When the citizen tried to call the caller back, they found that the number had been blocked on Truecaller, identified as 'Vincent Plumber'.
Further investigation revealed that six other colleagues in the office had also received similar calls from the same man, asking for personal details.
When the citizen reported the incident to Safaricom's customer care, they were told that the line used by the caller was a stolen identity from a genuine customer and that action had been taken to track the person behind the fraud.
According to Safaricom's 2019 Sustainability Report, 78 members of staff underwent a disciplinary process to deal with issues of corruption, including breach of policy, negligence, and asset misappropriation.
