The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has cautioned Kenyans against falling for phony social media accounts supposedly belonging to elected officials like President William Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
This occurs as three suspects have been detained after being discovered to be operating multiple social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
According to the DCI, the trio was making enormous sums of money after deceiving unwary Kenyans into believing they would be given job opportunities, financial aid, and other favors.
Michael Wekesa, a 19-year-old man from Sirisia, Bungoma County was arrested after creating a Facebook account pretending to be an employee of the Office of the First Lady from which he pretended to be a loans officer offering speedy loans.
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“The suspect who promised interest free loans from the esteemed First Lady’s Office, requested for a small deposit as ‘facilitation fees’ to expedite the process,” said DCI.
“Unsuspecting Kenyan’s not aware of the existence such scammers sent money to a provided Mpesa account which was then transferred to a till number under the suspect’s name.”
The culprit is said to have disappeared after receiving the funds from his victims.
Detectives also nabbed his alleged accomplice, Isaac Oduor, who operated a ‘call center’ that received calls.
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The sleuths recovered three mobile phones suspected to have been used to swindle unsuspecting Kenyans.
Also in custody is a Commerce graduate from Kirinyaga University, Dennis Kimaru, who was arrested after being found operating a pseudo account for President Ruto’s aide-de-camp Col Fabian Lengusuranga.
The 25-year-old man is also said to have been operating Mzalendo Kimaru (jeshii), Mzalendo Kym Korir and Obuntu Family’s Facebook accounts.
Others who have been impersonated include; First Lady Rachel Ruto, Second Lady pastor Dorcas Rigathi, Chief Justice Martha Koome, Defence CS Aden Duale and Energy and Petroleum CS Davis Chirchir.
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Kenyans have been advised to not respond to requests from unverified accounts, adding that any suspicious accounts should be reported to the police.
“Kenyans are advised to be wary of such social media accounts and are cautioned not to send money to anyone in order to influence favours. Should you have any information that you would wish to share with us anonymously please dial #FichuakwaDCI 0800 722 203.”
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