Pastor James Ng’ang’a of Neno Evangelism Center reported that he lost a significant sum of Ksh 630,000 to scammers in what he describes as a sim swap scam.
In a video seen by The Kenya Times, the televangelist exposed conmen using sim swap trick to defraud unsuspecting Kenyans.
He revealed how the conmen emptied his church’s SIM cards registered under different branches for offering collections.
While urging his congregants to stay woke, the outspoken pastor said unknown people swapped the first sim card registered as James Ng’ang’a and withdrew Ksh 200,000 in Nakuru at a telco’s customer care shop.
“Jerusalem church contacted and informed me that the phone was not working, so I visited the service provider’s office to sort the issue, however, the one registered for this church stopped working as well,” he stated.
It was after visiting the telcos customer care shop that the televangelist was informed that unknown people swapped the two lines.
Expressing his dismay over the fraudulent act, Pastor Nganga blamed the shop attendants for not confirming national identification cards, noting that it would have prevented the fraudulent act.
Also Read: DCI Arrests Notorious Mulot Sim Swap Gang Members
Pastor Ng’ang’a Advise to Church Members
In his address, the pastor urged his congregants to remain strong during such trying times adding that God will always help his children.
“Seasons come and go. Do your work in all seasons, and leave the rest to God,” he stated.
He also advised against switching off phones, as scammers often exploit such opportunities to conduct SIM card swaps and carry out fraudulent transactions.
Also Read: Boniface Mwangi Narrates How Suspected Fraudster Conned Him Ksh1M
Similarly, Ng’ang’a urged telcos to exercise best practices to avoid cases where their customers were being scammed by conmen.
Sim Swap Gang Arrested in Bomet
Earlier this week officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested two suspected members of a sim swap gang following complaints by resident.
One of the suspects was arrested in Mulot while the other was arrested in Chepalungu areas in Bomet County.
“Two suspected members of an armed gang that has been the nightmare of Bomet, Kericho and Nakuru County residents have been arrested in an ongoing operation to weed out the criminal syndicate which is also notorious for electronic fraud,” DCI stated.
The suspects were detained at Itein Police Station pending identification parade and arraignment in Kericho Law Courts.