Safaricom has announced that it will block all unregistered users of its mobile transfer service M-Pesa on Feb 5.
- There are more than 49,000 unregistered M-Pesa users who could receive or send money prior to the directive.
- Those affected include those using other unregistered mobile money services like Airtel Money and T-Kash from Telkom.
- The directive will prevent these users from receiving or sending money to registered M-Pesa accounts.
Registration will be done at Safaricom Customer Care centers and M-Pesa agencies where customers are expected to present identity documents.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) had issued a sim cards’ registration directive in 2022 to enable telcos to update their customers’ data.
Many cases of mobile money fraud have been perpetuated by unregistered users.
Fraudsters pretending to be Safaricom staff commonly call registered mobile money customers and dupe them into revealing confidential details of their accounts. The information can be swapped into a new sim card where your money can be easily accessed.
Sim swapping has led to an avalanche of lawsuits against Safaricom. Despite publicity campaigns to warn customers against fraudster techniques, the menace remains unabated. By preventing money transfer to unregistered users, Safaricom hopes that it can easily curb criminal activity and simplify inspection.
