Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) on Tuesday, February 4, paraded 15 suspected criminals arrested at various intervals starting January 28 for allegedly belonging to a criminal gang that has defrauded many people.
They are all suspects in a fraudulent mobile banking network originating from Nyakarenzo Sector in Rusizi District, said Marie-Michelle Umuhoza, the RIB spokesperson.
The paraded suspects - 14 men and one woman – however, do not look like the people on top of this rather sophisticated scam, something RIB officials acknowledge, noting that they will leave no stone unturned in their effort to nab the ring leaders.
Umuhoza said that the arrests started when one of the victims, a man called Alain Rubayiza, was conned of Rwf500,000 and quickly reported the incident at a police station in Kicukiro district.
She said: "He presented the number that had sent him a message and investigations started there, followed by the arrests, one by one. This is an ongoing investigation because these are not the only people involved. There are others who recruited them especially two who have not been apprehended.
"This is a crime done in a sophisticated manner and by smart individuals who use technology.”
One of the suspects, a mother of three who was carrying a breastfeeding baby, partly owned up and told reporters that she got sim cards from someone called Jean-Paul Ndikumana, an MTN agent in Kigali.
Mobile phone fraud is punishable where on conviction, the culprit gets two to five years in jail and fines of running up to Rwf5million.
All the 15 suspects belong to a criminal gang known as Abameni, based in Rusizi District.
Besides the mobile money scam, the group is likely to be charged with belonging to a criminal gang, a crime that attracts up to ten years in prison upon conviction.
Umuhoza warned the public should always be vigilant and report cases immediately so that fraudsters can be caught and punished.
With the ever-growing tech crimes, authorities have in the recent past stepped up efforts to urge the public to always be cautious about potential scams, especially on mobile gadgets and the internet.
Among others, mobile money subscribers have been warned to always double-check their balance before engaging in a transaction.
One of the suspects, Laurence Ugirashebuja, 30, a mother of three, said she started dealing in mobile money scam early last year when, after giving birth, she was duped into joining the criminal ring.
She said: "My fault is that I sold off many SIM cards at once but then I was getting them from an agent I considered genuine and I never bothered checking if I was doing something wrong. When I distributed them, I never followed up on what they were being used for.”
Breaking into tears, she pleaded innocence, claiming she was duped.
How fraudsters do it
Another suspect, Zachariah Ngendahimana, 25, a mobile money agent, was arrested last week as he headed to the bus park in Nyabugogo.
He shed light on how their scheme works.
"I joined this network end September last year. They showed me how things are done and I enlisted. They would show me the [mobile money dealer] SIM cards and how one can make up ten-digit numbers and use them to establish how much money one has on his account,” Ngendahimana said.
One way the fraudsters do it, he said, is by sending mobile money scam messages to subscribers with the intention of tricking them into sending funds to a designated number.
"If you find someone, let’s say, has Rwf75,000, you send him a fake message (purportedly from the telecom company) indicating they had say received Rwf73,000. Then you immediately call him to say you erroneously sent the money and ask him to reverse it.”
This person sees the message and accepts to send you back your money without checking on his account and before he realizes it, his money is gone.”
Immediately the transaction is done, the number used by the fraudsters is switched off.