A talker had posted about this, any talker involved?

Thousands of Safaricom subscribers are under police radar for their involvement in a multi-million-shilling airtime theft that took place last month.

One of the suspects was on Tuesday charged in court with manipulating the telecoms firm’s computer system and stealing electronic airtime.

The Directorate of Investigations (CID) is reportedly pursuing the masterminds of the electronic theft and about 10,000 Safaricom subscribers who bought the stolen airtime at half the market price. The subscribers face a charge of handling stolen property.

Alex Mutuku on Tuesday appeared before a magistrate at Nairobi’s Milimani law courts where his case was set for hearing on May 19,2015.

Mr Mutuku is charged with collaborating with others, at an unknown place within Nairobi, to steal airtime valued at Sh20,000 belonging to Safaricom.

The charge sheet says the alleged crime was committed by interfering with the functioning of Safaricom’s computer system with intent to procure the suspect an advantage.

Bob Collymore, the Safaricom chief executive, declined to comment on the subject insisting that the matter was under investigation.

“Unfortunately, we cannot make specific comments on this query at this time as the case is still under investigation,” Mr Collymore, said.

He said Safaricom continues to invest heavily in technology and security systems to track and identify fraudulent activity on its network given the evolving nature of opportunistic crimes.

“We constantly monitor our business for fraudulent activity and are aggressively dealing with unlawful activity by pursuing prosecution to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.

Mr Collymore was, however, categorical that the incident is not related in any way to Safaricom’s scratch card suppliers who have been able to uphold the same levels of scrutiny in their business as Safaricom has.

Fraud architects

The architects of the fraud are said to have broken into Safaricom’s computer systems and stolen airtime which they sold in the market at half the retail price. Mr Mutuku is, for instance, alleged to have bought airtime worth Sh20,000 for Sh10,000.

The perpetrators of the crime are said to have created a huge market for the stolen airtime by informing friends and relatives where to buy from, causing alarm within Safaricom.

Some of the stolen airtime was traced to friends and relatives of the masterminds, having been sent to them for free. Safaricom has used serial numbers of the stolen airtime to trail their circulation in the marketplace, blocking thousands of consumers found to have handled it.

Bad move there…

Sioni part yenye ‘multi millions’ zilisanywa. Naona 20k tu.

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Hata mi nangoja kuona hizo millions.Labda ziko in Zimbabwe currency

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I,envy tht guy, only tht he didn’t have a plan B in case he got caught

… I think I am among the said friends and relatives of the masterminds.

safaricom wako na umama

10 crack rules by BIG.

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Zimbabwe dollar is stronger than our currency

i think safaricom is suffering from a con-
related desease

Alex Mutuku is just a scape goat. They fired a gang of managers who were stealing airtime and bundles from Safaricom and raia. They were never taken to court since the whole story could have been known and embrace the head negro.

The amount of money Safaricon steals from poor Kenyans through their con services pales in comparison.

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sasa mtu/rafiki akikutumia airtime mayb for free,wewe unayepokea utajuaje ni ya wizi?‘handling stolen property’ this is a very lame accusation.
am not a victim though…but i wish this firm meets its death soon…wameibia wateja ya kutosha

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full story here

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Safaricom-hunts-down-subscribers-for-theft-of-airtime/-/539550/2678892/-/xbq7ro/-/index.html

Ignorance is no defence, or so they told us.

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I pity those old parents upcountry who were gifted as an easter present by their ‘hardworking’ kids…

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Mbaya kabisa. Ever had a look at The sale of Goods Act? The onus usually is on the buyer to verify and ascertain that the seller has a legitimate title (i.e. ownership) to whatever they are selling, prior to purchase. That’s why handling stolen goods is a crime.

how does this help?

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the saga continues
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http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/The-man-police-have-linked-to-Safaricom-NIC-Bank-fraud/-/539550/2681054/-/item/1/-/q19rypz/-/index.html

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These guys should be hired by the Cyber Crimes Unit, hehehe…