Safaricom tights war against use of stolen ID cards for SIM Card registration

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 15 – Safaricom has introduced a new extra security feature that alerts customers via SMS whenever someone tries to register a line using their national identification card.

Safaricom says it will send a consent message using the number 707, asking the customer to either accept or cancel the registration.

The new feature comes barely a month after Communications Authority of Kenya sent out a warning due to increasing cases of fraudulent use by some users.

CA has repeatedly warned Kenyans against smishing; where the fraudster sends SMS texts purporting to originate from a reputable company with the purpose of tricking subscribers into revealing personal information such as ID numbers, passwords, PINS and credit card details among other personal details.

The criminals use the information obtained to defraud the recipient.