The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has unmasked a six-man group using a sophisticated caller ID spoofing system to dupe unsuspecting victims through simple phone calls and siphon millions of shillings from its victims.
Through a statement, DCI revealed that the six cybercrime suspects from Mombasa had been apprehended after a security operation, flushing them from their hideout in an Airbnb.
“Six cybercrime suspects implicated in a series of serious fraud through spoofing to dupe their targets, whereafter they siphon millions of cash electronically, have been arrested in a security operation conducted in Nyali, Mombasa County,” DCI stated.
As per DCI, the suspects’ use of the software involved social engineering their victims by using the spoofing application to manipulate phone calls and numbers to make them appear as if they were coming from authentic call centres.
By doing so, the suspects were able to disguise their identities and engage in deception that causes panic and a sense of urgency, leading to the victims revealing personal information that the fraudsters use to transfer huge sums of money to their accounts.
One of the suspects, believed to be the mastermind of the fraud, is said to possess the spoofing application, which he used to aid the infamous 'Mulot Swapper’ fraudsters for a fee.
The mastermind is said to make calls to victims while masquerading as customer care service desk attendants in banks and telecommunication offices.
By doing so, victims end up falling prey to the con job due to the ‘legitimacy’ of the phone calls and lose their hard-earned money.
DCI added that the software is in extremely high demand, so much so that the suspects had to part with Ksh500,000 to acquire it, have it configured and be provided with an IP address to facilitate their malicious activities.
Highlighting details of their address, the detectives disclosed that the suspects had turned their Airbnb into their training and working station.
Amongst the items repossessed by the sleuths were 19 assorted mobile phone gadgets, assorted SIM cards and SIM card holders, a book containing possible victims’ records, among other items.
After their apprehension, the suspects were arraigned before the Kahawa Law Courts on Tuesday, June 3, with their case scheduled for ruling tomorrow. Currently, the suspects have been remanded at the Capitol Hill Police Station.
