The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has arrested 20 suspects linked to the Debit card fraud that occurred in Equity Bank between April 9 to 15, where more than US$ 2 million was stolen.
- •In a leaked letter sent to the Banking Fraud Unit of the DCI, Equity Bank stated that the risk department traced unusual transactions within the seven days of theft prompting preliminary investigations.
- •The bank later realized that US$ 1.3 million had been transferred from MasterCard GL to about 551 Equity Bank accounts.
- •More than US$ 400,000 was sent to Safaricom’s M-pesa and the remaining US$ 200,000 was channeled into other eleven commercial banks.
“We are in touch with Safaricom and the respective banks to assist in tracing the movement and safeguarding the funds,” Gerald Munyiri, Equity’s general manager security, stated in the leaked letter.
The money was stolen from the bank accounts of Equity Bank customers possibly after their Debit card details were hacked. The ‘Card-not-present’ scam takes place when a transactions do not require any physical interaction between a customer and a service provider.
All a customer needs to do is provide the Debit card details. When this information is obtained electronically by malicious individuals, money in their account can be funneled into decoy websites where the money can be accessed.
A 2023 report from the Financial Crime News indicates that Kenya has a moderate to high threat level of fraud, with the banking sector marked as the most vulnerable avenue.
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