Man left with Ksh.3 after losing Ksh.287,000 to fraudsters posing as SHA officials

Jacob Makunyi said he lost more than Ksh.287,000 after he handed over his phone to the fraudsters for a purported SHA registration.

Within minutes, his bank account had been wiped clean, and the suspects went on to take out salary advances and loans using his details.

The four suspects were arrested on Friday and are currently in custody as investigations continue.

Still visibly shaken by the September ordeal, Jacob Makunyi displays bank documents detailing the unauthorized transactions made by suspects who posed as officials of the Social Health Authority (SHA).

The fraudsters cleaned out his account, leaving him with a mere Ksh.3.45. Makunyi recounts how the fraudsters, pretending to assist him with a “SHA registration,” swiftly took control of his phone.

“I was near Marimanti Polytechnic when people in a Prado stopped and said they had been sent by the government to register people,” he said.

Unaware of the scheme unfolding, he continued with his daily routine, only to discover later, when attempting to withdraw money, that his account had been emptied and additional loans and salary advances taken out using his personal details.

“I gave them my phone to help me activate the account. Later, when I tried to withdraw money for farm expenses, Safaricom told me I had been defrauded. I later learned they had changed my PIN and swapped my line,” said Makunyi.

A month later, with the proverbial forty days seemingly up, four suspects were arrested. Police contacted Makunyi, who rushed to Marimanti Police Station to identify them.

“They stole 70,000, then 60,000, then 11,000. They withdrew my money and took salary advances and even applied for loans,” he said.

The suspects, Peter Muriithi, Catherine Kinyua, Lilian Njeri, and Samuel Mbuthia, were arrested on Friday. Makunyi now awaits their arraignment on Monday, hopeful that justice will prevail and he will recover his stolen funds.