Police have arrested five people belonging to a ring that has been stealing money from unsuspecting people’s mobile banking accounts. The suspects, all from Cyabakamyi Sector in Nyanza District include a mobile money agent in Kigali, two students at Nyagisozi in Nyanza, teenager and another man only identified as Habineza, 24. They were arrested in Kigali following a two-day sting conducted between January 19 and 20 in the suburbs of Muhima, Nyabugogo and Gatsata. The suspects were paraded before the media yesterday at which they acknowledged to have been working together to defraud unsuspecting people. One of the suspects said they would just dial a random telephone number and if it went through, they would tell the recipient that he or she had won a jackpot. The unsuspecting victim would then follow their instructions and send the money on their MTN Mobile Money, Tigo Cash or Airtel Money as the only prerequisite to claim their prize. The suspects would then disconnect the used SIM-card and acquire a new one. One of the suspects was found with 20 SIM-cards of different telecom companies, which were allegedly used to defraud the unsuspecting victims. Another suspect narrated that he was recruited in November last year after he joined one of the suspects in Kigali for a holiday from Nyanza. The suspect said he had already defrauded more than Rwf200,000 from different people in the last two months. Police spokesperson Celestin Twahirwa, said the operations were conducted after some victims reported to Police. “During the operation, we found out that most of the SIM-cards these suspects were using to con people were actually registered in names of other people, who are not connected to this ring. So there was thorough investigations to identify and arrest real suspects,” Twahirwa said. According to investigations, the suspects would just compose any national ID number and search by use of mobile phone, and if they luckily found it to be registered, they would then use the same number to buy another SIM-card. In the last two months alone, they had used 89 SIM-cards in similar manners. About 30 SIM-cards were registered on only one unsuspecting victim. Twahirwa called on the public to desist believing such tricks fraudsters use, saying no one can win a jackpot they did not participate in. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
