Daring Nairobi thugs register 9 SIM cards using GSU officer’s details

A senior police officer is in shock after criminals registered 9 SIM cards using his ID number.

The scared GSU officer whose identity is concealed due to the sensitivity of the matter has no idea how long the syndicate has been running courtesy of his personal details.

“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.

The inspector who lost his ID in 2019 in Nairobi, said he had walked into a Telkom shop in Wajir to register a line only to be given the scary revelation.

“I wanted to register another line, I went to their shop in Wajir and that's where I realised that my ID had been used to register the other nine lines which I knew nothing about.”

The officer said nine SIM cards, assuming they were registered by different criminals is a huge number of criminals - big enough to deny an entire estate a good night's sleep.

The question is - who would steal personal details of a former police officer and use them to register nine (9) SIM cards?

He said Telkom assured him they will de-register the nine lines, but his worry is why were they registered and what criminal activities have the lines been used.

Of course, this may sound stupid, but that is exactly what the hard-headed thugs have executed in Nairobi.

The officer recently took to social media to express his shocking discovery.

His post read: "Today I went into a Telkom office to register my second Telkom line the first one being used at home as a family line. To my surprise, I couldn't be registered as the system showed that the other nine lines had been registered under my name and ID.

"The lines which I actually never knew about. 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.

"I lost my ID back in 2019 and maybe they are using it. The lines have now been de-registered. My next stop will now be Safaricom and Airtel offices."

He challenged Telkom to inform customers through their lines whenever they want to register another 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”

Contacted Telkom

When reached for comment, a Telkom director of communication officer George Mlaghui wrote however defended their registration policy saying they verify all the 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,” he said.

"Telkom also verifies customer identification details using the government’s Integrated Population Registration Services (IPRS) database, before proceeding to register any customer onto the network,” Mlaghui added.

He said they also have an onboarding customer process that undergoes review to eliminate potential fraudulent activities.

Mlaghu said Telkom also works with the requisite security agencies, reporting suspected cases of unauthorised access to customer documentation (IDs or Passports) that may register a line intending to commit fraud or any other activity that is against the law.

"We continue to call upon our customers and Kenyans to inform us, should they suspect that their identification details have been used to gain access to telephony services without their consent, to enable us to take the legal action.”

Fraudsters

There have been rising cases of fraud involving the use of mobile phones. In most cases, criminals use other people's ID details to register phone numbers which they use to execute criminal activities.

Criminals now use unsuspecting Kenyans details to commit crimes such as abduction, borrowing loans through online Apps, and conning.

Kenyans have been cautioned to exercise caution, and also report to the police whenever they lose their IDs and other details. It would not hurt to occasionally try to find out the status of your phone numbers from your mobile service provider every so often.