In a twist of events, amid the increasing cyber security threats, rogue Telecommunication giant Safaricom Plc has advised clients to delete its MPESA Application on the phones.
Responding to a hacking incident where a client lost over Sh60,000, the Telco’s move appeared to be one of distrust of its invention.
“As to whether they will refund the money stolen from my phone? No. But I owe them Kshs 8,009 as Fuliza. They have also advised I uninstall Safaricom Apps on my phone. This to me conveyed that they know where the problem was and they do not trust their Apps,” Titus Mugambi wrote
It all started like this, “SAFARICOM IS ONE BIG CRIME SCENE. Wueh! I do not think of any other befitting word to start this conversation. Before going further, take a few seconds and immediately uninstall all Safaricom Apps on your phone. I will tell you why shortly. I have woken up to a series of M-Pesa transactions that happened on my line in the middle of the night. At 1.27 a.m, my line sent 60K to a new number. That transaction exhausted all my M-Pesa balance and left me with a Fuliza balance of 7,616. At 2.06 a.m, my line applied for an M-Shwari loan of 23,640 which cleared the Fuliza balance and interest leaving me with a M-pesa balance of 24,178. Immediately thereafter 8,231 was transferred from my M-Shwari account to M-Pesa. At the same time, my line sent 32K to the same number leaving me with a Fuliza balance of 8,009 plus interest. All these transactions happened in the middle of the night while I was dead asleep. I have called Safaricom to complain. All they have asked me to do is forward the number that received the money to 333 and go to the nearest police station to report the transactions. As to whether they will refund the money stolen from my phone? No. But I owe them Kshs 8,009 as Fuliza. They have also advised I uninstall Safaricom Apps on my phone. This to me conveyed that they know where the problem was and they do not trust their Apps. I have asked myself many questions this morning but the one question that has stuck out like a sore thumb is this, how did the fraudster(s) know the balance I have in my M-Pesa and M-Shwari and what time there was no activity on my line? To my mind, this was an inside job”.
He concluded, ‘Safaricom is one big crime scene. Your money is not safe with these people’.
This raises the pertinent question of security as these cases have become too many; most go unpunished.
Rising cyber security threats in Kenya
In 2023, Kenya reported a huge jump in the rise in cyber security threats. Media reports cited that there were over 1.2 billion threats in quarter 4 of 2023. This is a big jump from the recorded 123 million in 2022.
Safaricom dismissed up to 33 employees over breach of policy and M-Pesa-related fraud cases in 2023.
