The suspected mastermind of the Mulot sim-swapping syndicate has been arrested.
David Mutai alias Hillary Langat Matindwet was arrested Friday morning in Kericho Town.
He was arrested after members of the public who spotted him alerted the police who responded swiftly and arrested him.
He was taken to the nearby police station as plans are underway to ferry him to Nairobi ahead of Prosecution.
Rift Valley head of DCI Francis Wanjau confirmed the arrest. He said he is being interrogated pending further action.
The DCI claims that the suspect is a dangerous criminal who has previously served time in prison and has several cases and warrants of arrest hanging around his neck, allegations Nairobi Leo could not independently verify.
The identification of the suspect, DCI says, follows comprehensive investigations by the detectives based at the elite Crime Research & Intelligence Bureau.
The sleuths believe that Mutai is de facto leader of the criminal enterprise, responsible for the SIM swap scam in which phone scammers hijack a victim’s cell phone number and use it to gain access to sensitive personal data and bank accounts through the mobile banking applications available on mobile phones, claims we could not also verify.
In a recent case leading to the arrest of two of his alleged accomplices, the suspects had allegedly siphoned Sh941,000 from a bank account belonging to a legislator from Rift Valley.
The legislator was out of the country on official duties between December 2 and 3 this month.
Following the incident reported by the legislator, one of Mutai’s alleged lieutenants Justus Rono, 28, was tracked down by detectives and arrested in Mulot.
DCI describes Mulot as a dusty town shared between Bomet and Narok counties.
Rono, who disguises himself as a boda boda rider according to the DCI is one of the main suspect’s trusted allies, claims Nairobi Leo could not independently verify.
The DCI claim he ferries him on his bike discreetly to avoid detection from our hawk-eyed sleuths.
Images of Rono showing off wads of cash following some of the alleged successful operations that they have conducted were also obtained by the detectives and shared on their social media handles.
A second suspect identified as Kevin Kiplagat, was also apprehended at Sigor market Bomet county.
DCI say the latest arrest of SIM swap fraudsters marks the beginning of the end of fraudsters they believe have sought refuge in the infamous trading centre that has gained notoriety for harbouring cons.
The suspected fraudsters, DCI claim, have perfected the act of impersonating senior government officials who recently obtained an unspecified amount of money from unsuspecting members of the public, after posing as a senior state official who would influence employment and business opportunities at a fee.
The suspects who have registered multiple SIM cards using details from fraudulently acquired identification documents, deposit the siphoned money to different Mpesa accounts, in a bid to make it difficult for detectives to track them down.
In most instances, the fraudsters working in cahoots with rogue banking officials pose as customer care agents from banks and then ask for a customer’s account number, PIN, as well as details of the last transaction on the targeted account.
They then use the details to duplicate the victims’ accounts and after a successful SIM swap, the account is swept clean in a matter of seconds.
Local financial institutions are the most targeted due to their inferior network segmentation systems, which expose their clients’ sensitive data to fraudsters in case of cyber threats.
As a precautionary measure, Kenyans are requested not to reveal their national identity card name and number, the last time they made an M-Pesa transaction and the amount, the last airtime top-up and amount and the Personal Identification Number of their sim cards to strangers who contact them. You are also advised not to use your year of birth as your Personal Identification Number.
Meanwhile, detectives have launched a manhunt for David Mutai alias Hillary Langat Matindwet, who hails from Bomet county.
Any information leading to his arrest, DCI say, may be shared through the toll-free line 0800 722 203.
