This archive report was first published on 26 September 2019.
Equity Bank Account Theft: Faith Wanjiku's Sh. 970,216 Nightmare ¶
On July 16, 2019, Faith Wanjiku, a 73-year-old Equity Bank customer, awoke to a nightmare: Sh. 970,216 had been stolen from her account through the Eazzy App platform.
Wanjiku, who lives with high blood pressure and relies on her sister for assistance, had opened an account with Equity Bank on May 31, 2019. She had sold a piece of land for Sh. 2 million and was planning to use the funds to buy another land and build a simple house.
However, on July 16, 2019, the sum of Sh. 970,216 was illegally siphoned from her account in four series of transactions using the Eazzy App platform. The transactions were as follows:
- Ksh 300, 030. 00 to Vivian Jelagat Kips
- Ksh 300, 030. 00 transferred to Anthony Babu Kaira
- Ksh 300, 030. 00 to Kelvin Maina Mwaniki
- Ksh 70, 000.00 to various Equity numbers
Wanjiku had never registered to use the Eazzy App and had never sought service from the platform. She also did not receive any notification of the transactions, which is unusual given her account settings.
When Wanjiku reported the theft, she was promised quick investigations. However, the bank's staff accused her of sharing her ATM PIN with a third party and refused to share the investigation report with her.
Wanjiku's sister, who assists her with daily tasks, was also cleared of any wrongdoing by the bank's staff. However, the bank still refused to return the stolen funds, citing that Wanjiku had compromised her PIN by allowing her sister to assist her with withdrawing money from an ATM.
Wanjiku's case highlights the need for banks to take responsibility for their customers' accounts and to ensure that their systems are secure against theft and fraud.
