Fraudsters threatening to 'block your line' if you don't give key details, Safaricom warns

A mobile user on phone. [Courtesy of Joshua Woroniecki]

Safaricom has warned that fraudsters are using the Communications Authority of Kenya's order on mandatory SIM card registration to swindle Kenyans.

In a text message to its subscribers, Safaricom warned Kenyans against sharing key information such as ID number, M-Pesa PIN or the contacts of the people that they call frequently.

"Beware of fraudsters claiming your line will be blocked unless you provide personal details. Do not share, instead Dial *106# to check status and self-register," Safaricom said in the bulk SMS sent out to its subscribers on Saturday, October 22.

According to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the move to have all SIM cards registered will allow the government to weed out fraudsters and criminals using unregistered cell phone lines to cause harm.

In the lead-up to the October 15, 2022 deadline on SIM card registration, the CA said mobile service providers had deactivated a total of 287,214 SIM cards.

The deactivation, the CA said, happened between June 2022 and October 15, 2022.

The Authority said in its report that the SIM cards deactivated were those registered using the wrong identification details.

"Consumers continue to validate their registration details and through the exercise, some have flagged numbers registered in their name without their knowledge," said the CA in its report.

Kenyans can continue to register their details at their mobile operators' shops.

The CA, in April 2022, extended the deadline for subscribers to update their registration details to October 15, 2022.

"With the deactivation, the active mobile subscriptions declined to 64.7 million in the quarter up from 64.9 million in the preceding period, translating to a mobile penetration of 130.9 per cent," said the regulator.

In the January to March 2022 quarter, 124,689 SIM cards were deactivated as part of efforts to mitigate misuse of SIM cards for criminal intentions.

"Mobile money subscriptions stood at 37.2 million, representing a penetration level of 75.3 per cent. In the period, there were 1.1 billion person-to-person transfers amounting to Sh1.1 trillion. On the other hand, the value of deposits stood at Sh1.4 trillion," said the CA.

In 2021, mobile services generated revenues of Sh315 billion, representing a 12.45 per cent increase compared to 2020.

"At the same time, investments in the mobile sub-sector grew by 12.41 per cent to stand at Sh51.6 billion from Sh45.9 billion in 2020," said the Communications Authority.

According to the regulator, as of June 30, 2022, there were 59.7 million mobile devices connected to mobile networks with feature phones and smartphones accounting for 32.9 and 26.8 million, respectively.

The penetration rates for feature phones and smartphones computed as a percentage of the total population were 66.6 and 54.3 per cent, respectively.

The total number of data or internet subscriptions went up by 2.3 per cent to reach 47.6 million, whereas the number of broadband subscriptions recorded a slight drop of 0.5 per cent to post 30.1 million.