A notorious gang that has been hacking people’s credit cards before using them to purchase bitcoins and convert them to Kenyan currency, have been arrested in Nakuru city.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) says the gang operating from houses in the affluent Milimani neighborhood has been on the radar of their detectives over the past few days.
“It was only a matter of time before our detectives smoked them out,” DCI said in a statement on their social media pages.
Francis Maina Wambui Alias Nick, 26, and Zellic Alusa, 25, both students at Kenyatta University were arrested during the raid in the company of two young ladies, at an apartment in Nakuru’s posh Milimani neighborhood.
In the sophisticated crime that DCI notes is gaining currency in the country, the students allegedly create fake email accounts which they use to hack credit cards of innocent persons especially those living in foreign countries and use them to buy bitcoins which are then converted to Kenyan currency.
They then use the money to live lavishly, entertain beautiful babes and buy properties.
“Among the documents recovered in the house was a land sale agreement entered on May, 25, for a property valued at Sh 850,000 in Juja,” said the DCI.
The arrest comes just days after President Uhuru Kenyatta officially opened the DCI National Forensic Laboratory.
In his address during the event, President Kenyatta called for the strengthening of the Cyber and Digital forensic lab to deal with contemporary crimes that involve misuse of technology.
Bitcoin is a digital currency which operates free of any central control or the oversight of banks or governments.
“Among the items recovered during the raid were five laptops, four mobile phones, two wifi gadgets, three hard drives and assorted SIM cards,” said the DCI.
Cyber forensic experts have since taken over investigations into the matter for a comprehensive analysis into the sophisticated crime.
