Detectives have unearthed a new scam targeting bank accounts of Kenyans who have died leaving behind millions.
Reports indicate that the fraudsters have turned to a new form of identity theft, primarily targeting the rich dead, as their cash cow.
From the reports, the cons identify targets from the obituary published in the local dailies, with their targets being prominent and wealthy individuals. According to the detectives, the criminals proceed to find mobile phone numbers of the dead, and fraudulently obtain private information.
The criminals are said to use their expanded network to get information such as Identity card number and date of births - information used to register a mobile phone line. To access such information, reports indicate that the fraudsters collude with unscrupulous officials in the Department of Registration of Persons.
Using this information, they proceed to call the mobile service provider pretending to be the owner of the line and ask for a new line, and will provide all the required details.
The fraudsters would then proceed to hack the victim’s Personal Identification Number (PIN) through their team of IT experts, which grants them complete access to the deceased's bank and mobile money lenders.
A similar scam saw the family of the late reverend Peter Kania lose Ksh3 million in 14 days to fraudsters.
The deceased, who died on July 26, 2020, was a wealthy pastor and businessman, an obvious target for the con syndicate.
As soon as the reverend passed away, the family switched off his phone. Two weeks after switching the phone, the family discovered that it could not access the phone’s contents as the passwords had been changed. Taking the issue to the mobile service provider, they discovered that the line had been used to conduct numerous financial transactions.
The family sought to get financial statements from the bank accounts owned by the late reverend and discovered that all the money had been wiped clean. Further, a bank loan application of Ksh500,000 had been made.
The family reported the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) who are in pursuit of the con syndicate. A former bank employee and a clerk working at the National Registration Bureau have been arrested in connection with the theft.
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