Safaricom, the mobile network operator based in Kenya, has began investigation of over 10,000 of its subscribers who were said to have purchased stolen airtime.
Last month, Safaricom discovered a loss of airtime amounting to million shillings. Some subscribers were accused of buying airtime half the normal price and will face charges for being in possession of stolen property.
Just last year, Safaricom dismissed 50 of its employers on the account of receiving bribes and participating in fraud. With this repeated action of fraudulence, it will not be taken lightly, as majority of the buyers were friends and relatives of the perpetrators. Who released informations of where the stolen items could be purchased. The situation raised an alarm within the network at that time.
According to the Business Daily, one of the suspects, Alex Mutuku was arraigned in the Milimani Law Courts and charged with manipulating the firm’s computer system and stealing electronic airtime worth KSh 20,000.
The telco apprehended some of the subscribers using the serial numbers of the stolen airtime to identify those who used the stolen airtime, after which it blocked their phones lines.
