Police have arrested five suspected cybercriminals, including two women, in an operation in Nyali, Mombasa, following an attempt to defraud a member of the public.
The suspects, who had reportedly travelled from Nairobi to Nyali Beach for the mission, were intercepted on Thursday evening.
Officers recovered several SIM cards believed to have been used in their fraudulent activities, as well as the vehicle they were using.
They were taken in for questioning as part of an ongoing crackdown targeting fraudsters accused of defrauding unsuspecting members of the public.
The arrest comes barely a month after a similar operation in the same area in June 2025, which stopped a planned major heist. In that incident, six suspects were arrested at an apartment in Mombasa while undergoing training on cyberattacks.
Police said the group specialised in spoofing, a technique used to impersonate legitimate sources and deceive victims.
Investigations later revealed how the suspects had drained funds from victims' accounts, sharing the proceeds among themselves.
Their operations, police said, were marked by deceitful conversations that led to the complete loss of savings for their targets.
In one case reported at Nyahururu Police Station on January 17, 2025, a man lost Sh3.4 million. On March 14, a woman reported waking up to an empty account, having lost Sh1.8 million overnight.
At Mwariki Police Station in Nakuru, a third victim lost Sh1.3 million on April 7, after engaging with someone posing as a customer service agent. On the same day, an elderly woman lost Sh1.2 million under similar circumstances.
Police say the gang has been targeting pensioners, especially women, striking soon after retirement benefits are credited.
In one chilling instance, a 63-year-old former employee at the Ministry of Lands lost Sh2.3 million, while two employees from the County Government of Nakuru lost Sh1.6 million and Sh1.5 million, respectively.
One of the arrested suspects was found to be operating two mobile numbers that had transacted over a million shillings daily since April.
Investigations also show that one suspect charged accomplices Sh16,000 daily as airtime for spoofing operations and collected between Sh30,000 and Sh120,000 as a personal cut depending on the day's proceeds.
Another suspect paid fellow gang members commissions ranging from 10% to 15% based on their daily performance.
Police say the investigation is ongoing to identify additional victims and suspects, and to trace how the stolen funds were withdrawn and distributed.
Dozens of suspected cybercriminals have so far been arrested and charged in connection with similar fraud operations.
