Government raises alarm over mobile money fraud

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The government has called for increased public vigilance after mobile money was used as a payment method or destination in 51 of the 102 reported computer fraud cases reviewed between February and July 2026.

The findings were presented during the 36th meeting of the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4), chaired by the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration, Dr Raymond Omollo.

Mobile money fraud was the largest single fraud scheme, accounting for 19 cases, representing 18.6 percent of the total cases reviewed. Investment and forex schemes followed with 16 cases at 15.7 percent, while cryptocurrency schemes accounted for 12 cases, or 11.8 percent.

The analysis further showed that 23 cases, equivalent to 22.5 percent, contained explicit telecommunications or SIM-related indicators.

Reports increased between May and July, when 70 cases were recorded, accounting for 68.6 percent of the six-month total. July recorded the highest number of cases in a single month, with 27 reports.

The response priorities presented to the committee included closer monitoring of high-risk mobile money transactions, faster preservation of evidence and improved escalation channels with telecommunications providers.

The government also called for stronger intelligence on investment, forex and cryptocurrency schemes, quicker action against fake websites and impersonation accounts, and consistent classification of fraud data.

It warned that fraud complaints will be investigated and offenders prosecuted in accordance with the law.

Members of the public have been urged to exercise caution when using digital financial services or responding to online investment, cryptocurrency, shopping and recruitment offers.

The public has also been advised not to disclose personal identification numbers, passwords, one-time passwords or other authentication credentials. Users have been encouraged to enable multifactor authentication where available and report suspicious phone numbers, accounts, websites and transactions to service providers, regulators and law enforcement agencies.

The meeting brought together senior government and security officials, including Inspector-General of the National Police Service Douglas Kanja, ICT Authority Chief Executive Officer Jessy Kiveu Maruti and National Cohesion and Integration Commission Chief Executive Officer Dr Daniel Muteugi Giti, alongside other NC4 members.

The Kenya Computer Incident Response Team – Coordination Centre (KE-CIRT/CC) reported 2.3 billion cyber events, a 30 percent decrease from the previous quarter. Ransomware, social engineering, malware, distributed denial-of-service attacks and AI-assisted attacks were among the main threats reported.

KE-CIRT/CC attributed the decline in cyber events to continued collaboration and institutional action on its advisories.

The ICT Authority 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 underway to support investigations and prosecution.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission 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 noted that the volume, speed and cross-platform spread of harmful content complicate monitoring and response. It said the government’s objective is to protect the public without restricting legitimate political discourse.

The Principal Secretary reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening Kenya’s cybersecurity through improved institutional coordination, incident response, investigation and prosecution, legal and regulatory reforms, protection of critical information infrastructure, public awareness and capacity-building for law enforcement agencies.

The efforts will support the implementation of the Kenya AI Strategy 2025 and remain aligned with national development priorities under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), with the goal of creating a safe and trusted digital environment for Kenyans.

Reporting originally appeared via KBC Digital. Read the full source for additional context.