Four arrested for conning JKUAT lecturer Sh567,000

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations detectives in Mombasa has arrested four suspects suspected to be involved in an online fraud syndicate.

The DCI believe the four conspired to defraud a JKUAT lecturer Sh567,000 in a fake deal to assist him in shipping his car into the country.

They allegedly posed as agents of a shipping company dubbed Beforward Car Importers based in Japan.

"One of the suspects who identified himself as Martin ID name; James Maina Muhindi, 32 years, enticed the victim into depositing the amount to an account in a local bank-NCBA Bank, to avoid delays in the dispatch of the consignment. The victim became suspicious when he was again called over the phone, being asked to send another Sh 432, 000 Duty fees," read part of the DCI Twitter post on Wednesday.

According to the DCI, investigations established that the first suspect had channelled the money to an account held by Motor City Ways in Mombasa, and was already calling for a refund in cash.

The other three suspects being held in custody of the DCI are Bonface Okumu 32, Eric Onyango, 31  and Hesbon Otieno 40.

The department has said that the pursuit of masterminds of the criminal gang is still ongoing.

On Tuesday, the DCI asked Kenyans to be cautious over the rise in Cybercrime and online fraud.

The directorate warned Kenyans against engaging in online transactions with companies, agencies or individuals they have no credible information about.

According to the DCI, the pursuit of these criminals is in most instances a lengthy procedure calling for Cyber-Forensic Interventions, mostly because perpetrators use different social media or Sim Cards to contact different people.

They are afterwards keen to block and delete their accounts upon successful transactions.

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