В Кении мобильные платежи стали главной мишенью для кибермошенников

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 25 — Mobile money was used as the payment method or destination in half of the computer fraud cases reviewed by Kenya’s cybercrime authorities between February and July, prompting the government to intensify monitoring of digital financial transactions. An analysis by the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4) found that mobile money featured in 51 of 102 reported computer fraud cases reviewed during the six-month period. The findings were presented during the NC4’s 36th meeting, chaired by Principal Secretary for the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration Raymond Omollo, as the government called for greater public vigilance and stronger action against mobile-enabled fraud. “Mobile money fraud was the largest single fraud scheme,” the Ministry of Interior and National Administration (MINA) said, accounting for 19 cases, or 18.6 per cent of the total. Investment and forex schemes followed with 16 cases, representing 15.7 per cent, while cryptocurrency schemes accounted for 12 cases, or 11.8 per cent. Separately, 23 cases, equivalent to 22.5 per cent, contained explicit telecommunications or SIM-related indicators, further highlighting the role of mobile networks in reported digital fraud. Reporting increased sharply from May, with 70 cases, or 68.6 per cent of the six-month total, recorded between May and July. July recorded the highest monthly volume, with 27 cases. MINA said the latest figures had informed a series of response priorities, including “closer monitoring of high-risk mobile money transactions” and faster evidence preservation and escalation channels with telecommunications providers. Authorities also want stronger intelligence on investment, forex and cryptocurrency schemes, quicker action against fake websites and impersonation accounts, and more consistent classification of fraud data. The government warned that those behind the schemes would face prosecution. “Fraud complaints will be investigated and offenders prosecuted in accordance with the law,” MINA said. The public was urged to exercise “heightened caution” when using digital financial services or responding to online investment, cryptocurrency, shopping and recruitment offers. Users were also advised never to disclose their personal identification numbers, passwords, one-time passwords or other authentication credentials, while enabling multifactor authentication where available. The government urged members of the public to promptly report suspicious phone numbers, accounts, websites and transactions to service providers, regulators and law enforcement agencies. The mobile money findings form part of a wider assessment of Kenya’s cyber threat landscape presented to the NC4. The Kenya Computer Incident Response Team–Coordination Centre (KE-CIRT/CC) reported 2.3 billion cyber events, representing a 30 per cent decline from the previous quarter. Ransomware, social engineering, malware, distributed denial-of-service attacks and AI-assisted attacks remained among the main threats. KE-CIRT/CC attributed the decline to “continued collaboration and institutional action on its advisories.” The Information and Communication Technology Authority (ICTA) also briefed the committee on the defacement of a government website following the exploitation of a critical zero-day vulnerability affecting its content management system. “Digital forensic work is under way to support investigations and prosecutions,” MINA said. The NCIC meanwhile warned that ethnically charged narratives and organised online mobilisation, increasingly amplified by AI-generated and synthetic media, fake accounts and bots, could deepen social divisions and weaken public trust. The committee said the volume, speed and cross-platform spread of harmful content was complicating monitoring and response, while stressing that the government’s objective was to protect the public space “without restricting legitimate political discourse.” The meeting brought together senior government and security officials, including National Police Service Inspector-General Douglas Kanja, ICTA Chief Executive Officer Jessy Kiveu Maruti and NCIC Chief Executive Officer Dr Daniel Mutegi Giti, alongside other NC4 members. The Principal Secretary reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening Kenya’s cybersecurity posture through improved institutional coordination, incident response, investigation and prosecution, legal and regulatory reform, protection of critical information infrastructure, public awareness and capacity-building for law enforcement agencies. The measures will support implementation of the Kenya AI Strategy 2025 and remain aligned with national development priorities and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, the government said.