Shock for Kenya Power token users caught in a web of fraud

A view of Stima Plaza building in Parklands, Nairobi. [Edward Kiplimo/Standard]

Customers who unknowingly bought prepaid power tokens that were reportedly stolen are now forced to pay for them.

Individual customers who spoke to The Standard said their accounts had negative balances, meaning they would have to settle the bills before they could buy additional units.

The genesis of their troubles has been traced to rogue Kenya Power staff who allegedly "hacked" their own system and generated genuine tokens that they sold through third-party vendors.

“Some employees are thought to have stolen the tokens, which were properly generated, and sold them but the money never got to the company,” said a customer care assistant.

What is not yet clear is the total number of customers caught up in the fraud, or the amount of money that could have been lost in the complex electricity theft.

But the fresh revelations touching on the popular prepaid tariff will surely rock the company that is currently being investigated over a multibillion shilling scam involving post-paid billing.

Kenya Power staffers who spoke on condition of anonymity said some large consumers had bought tokens worth Sh300,000 and would have no option but to pay up.

Why the power company would bill unsuspecting customers for no fault of their own is the burning question, even as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said it had started a probe into the matter.

Thieving workers

Ordinarily, the utility firm ought to go after its thieving workers to recoup any losses arising from fraud orchestrated in collusion with the vendors.

This reporter visited several Kenya Power offices posing as a victim of the scam after receiving complaints from readers who shared receipts indicating negative account statements.

The customer care assistants confirmed that they had been handling "thousands" of similar cases since Monday.

They volunteered information that the theft had been executed by unnamed colleagues who fraudulently generated the virtual tokens, which would then be sold to unsuspecting customers through third-party agents.

One assistant said the tokens were sold at ‘deep discounts’ to lure customers hunting for a bargain. The customers, the Kenya Power agent added, should have sensed something was amiss.

Another officer at Electricity House said residents of high-density neighborhoods were more likely to have fallen victim “because they provide a huge market to quickly soak up the stolen tokens”.

 

Kenya Power Managing Director Jared Othieno acknowledged that there had been fraud, noting: “There is an ongoing recovery of payments targeting affected customer accounts”.

“The recovery process began late last month and is an ongoing exercise. The company has ensured that all affected customers are notified on the said payments prior to recovery," Mr Othieno said.

The Standard spoke to Sylvia Sawira, a victim who narrated her frustrating experience after falling victim to the scheme that appears to have been going on for months.

On Friday last week, Ms Sawira’s tokens had run out prompting her to walk to her usual vendor in Ayany, Kibera, to buy more worth Sh300. But the vendor told her the payment was not going through, meaning the system could not generate the 20-digit number she would use to top up the digital electricity meter at home.

“The vendor told me the transaction was returning an error message even after several attempts,” Sawira said.

The failing of the transactions annoyed Sawira, who said she was taking care of a patient who suffered a respiratory condition hence requiring regular nebulisation.

“I have been lucky because the patient has not had an attack,” she said.

Her other alternative was buying through a costlier platform operated by a firm contracted by Kenya Power to deliver tokens through mobile money.

But that, too, did not work.

It was then that Sawira resorted to calling the Kenya Power customer care number. She was not prepared for the shocker that lay in wait.

Her account had a debit of Sh3,500 that she would have to pay before she could buy any tokens.

Bill puzzle

“It was puzzling to me and I explained to them that this was a pre-paid account and there was no way I could have a bill,” she said during the telephone interview.

She had to endure a weekend in darkness and on Monday walked into a Kenya Power office hoping that her problem would be swiftly resolved.

Matters did not, however, get any better; she was informed that she actually owed Sh4,400.

Sawira, who was not the only complainant, said they were accused of being the beneficiaries of theft they knew nothing about. The only recourse left to them was make one lump sum payment.

She said she returned home, helpless and dejected. By last evening, she had not figured out how to get reconnected to the power grid.

Another customer, who only identified himself as Nick, said he found himself in a similar predicament. Luckily, his "debt" was Sh500, which he cleared. Still, he insisted, he felt cheated.

Kenya Power is battling huge fraud claims, including an ongoing investigation on how nearly 5,000 customers on the post-paid plan had their power bills reduced leading to the loss of millions of shillings.

The DCI is questioning customers - who range from individuals to bosses of blue-chip companies - who are suspected to have colluded with Kenya Power staff to lower their bills.

Editor's note: If you are one of the affected customers, kindly share your experience with us. Write to [email protected]