Safaricom facing class-action sim-swap fraud suit, recent report shows 27 employees culpable
The country’s largest telco firm, Safaricom is facing a class action sim swap fraud suit in a petition filed at the Milimani High court, Nairobi.
Abdi Zeila accused Safaricom for failing to ensure the security and confidentiality of subscribers’ details.
Safaricom is also accused of failing to ensure that personal registration details are undisclosed to third parties without the recent consent of the subscriber.
In his experience, Zeila has outlined that his Safaricom registered sim card was duplicated without his authorisation and a total of Sh495,651 withdrawn from his NCBA Bank account and M-Pesa wallet.
He also claimed that the fraudsters took money from his mobile loan wallets at NCBA bank, M-Pesa, KCB M-Pesa and Safaricom Fuliza and lost Sh373,000 withdrawn from his NCBA bank account.
The fraudster also obtained mobile loans from other institutions including Sh24,000 from Zeila’s M-Shwari loan account, Sh20,000 from his KCB mobile loan account and a Sh12,000 M-Pesa overdraft through the Fuliza credit service.
He claims that Safaricom being the provider of the roaming network he was using, was aware or ought to have been aware that he could not have been in a position to conduct a sim swap as he was out of the country.
“Several months later, I have neither received feedback nor refund of my lost funds. I am apprehensive that Safaricom does not intend to. I hold Safaricom solely responsible for the loss I incurred,” he said.
He also stated that there were reports of Sim swap fraud on the Safaricom network especially after his experience.
Safaricom, in its 2022 sustainability report, reported that it sacked a total of 24 staff for fraud in March.
The number of fraud cases investigated by the company reduced from 36 to 27 cases investigated during the year whereby 10 were related to sim swap, up from four such cases that were investigated last year.
Zeila, in his petition demands that Safaricom and Communications Authority (CA) be held responsible and ordered to pay for the financial losses incurred by him and other members of the class.
He is also seeking a declaration that Safaricom failed to securely process and control his personal data and that of his co-victims.
