Alleged Mastermind of the Infamous Mulot SIM Swap Syndicate Arrested in Kericho

Police in Kericho on Friday arrested the mastermind behind the infamous Mulot SIM swap syndicate David Mutai, alias Hillary Langat Matindwet.

The suspect was arrested by officers at Kenya Commercial Bank in Kericho after members of the public spotted him in the town and went after him. 

His arrest comes two days after detectives from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau identified him as the de facto leader of the criminal enterprise responsible for SIM swap scam in which phone scammers hijack a victim’s cell phone number and use it to gain access to sensitive personal data and bank accounts through mobile banking applications.

Mutai, who unsuccessfully ran for the Nyangores ward seat in Bomet County in the August election, is described as a dangerous criminal who has previously served time in prison and has several cases and warrants of arrest hanging around his neck.

In a recent case leading to the arrest of two of his accomplices, the scammers siphoned Sh941,000 from a bank account belonging to an MP from Rift Valley, who was out of the country on official duties between December 2nd and 3rd. 

DCI said the fraudsters, who have perfected the act of impersonating senior government officials, recently obtained an unspecified amount of money from unsuspecting members of the public after posing as a senior government official who would influence employment and business opportunities at a fee. 

The suspects register multiple SIM cards using details from fraudulently acquired identification documents and deposit the siphoned money to different MPesa accounts to make it difficult for detectives to track them down.  

In most instances, the fraudsters working in cahoots with rogue banking officials pose as customer care agents from banks then ask for a customer’s account number, PIN, as well as details of the last transaction on the targeted account. They then use the details to duplicate the victims’ accounts and after a successful SIM swap, the account is swept clean in a matter of seconds.