The government has raised concern over the growing use of mobile money in cyber fraud, after an analysis found that the platforms featured in half of the computer fraud cases reviewed over a six-month period.

Data presented to the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4) showed that mobile money was either used to make payments or receive stolen funds in 51 of 102 fraud cases reported between February and July 2026.

The findings were presented during the committee’s 36th meeting, chaired by Internal Security and National Administration Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo.

Mobile money fraud emerged as the single most common scheme, accounting for 19 cases, or 18.6 per cent of those reviewed.

Investment and forex scams followed with 16 cases, representing 15.7 per cent, while cryptocurrency-related fraud accounted for 12 cases, or 11.8 per cent.

Another 23 cases contained clear telecommunications or SIM-related indicators, pointing to the growing role of mobile devices and digital communication platforms in financial crime.

The data also showed a sharp rise in reported fraud from May. Seventy cases – equivalent to 68.6 per cent of the six-month total – were recorded between May and July.

July recorded the highest number, with 27 cases.

Following the findings, the government said agencies would increase scrutiny of high-risk mobile money transactions while strengthening cooperation with telecommunications companies to preserve evidence and speed up investigations.

Authorities are also seeking stronger intelligence on investment, forex and cryptocurrency scams, faster action against fake websites and impersonation accounts, and more consistent classification of fraud cases.

“Fraud complaints will be investigated and offenders prosecuted in accordance with the law,” the government warned.

Members of the public have also been urged to be more cautious when using mobile money and other digital financial services, particularly when responding to online investment, cryptocurrency, shopping and recruitment offers.

Users have been advised never to disclose PINs, passwords, one-time passwords or other authentication details, and to activate multifactor authentication where available.

Suspicious phone numbers, accounts, websites and transactions should be reported immediately to service providers, regulators and law enforcement agencies.

The cybercrime concerns come as Kenya continues to record billions of attempted or detected cyber events.

The Kenya Computer Incident Response Team Coordination Centre (KE-CIRT/CC) told the committee that 2.3 billion cyber events had been detected during the latest reporting period, a 30 per cent decline from the previous quarter.

Ransomware, malware, social engineering, distributed denial-of-service attacks and AI-assisted attacks were identified among the major threats.

KE-CIRT/CC attributed the decline to stronger institutional coordination and action taken following cybersecurity advisories.

The ICT Authority also briefed the committee on the defacement of a government website after attackers exploited a critical zero-day vulnerability in its content management system. Digital forensic investigations are ongoing.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) separately warned about the growing use of artificial intelligence, synthetic media, fake accounts and bots to amplify ethnically charged narratives and organize harmful online mobilisation.

“The objective is to protect the public space without restricting legitimate political discourse,” the committee said.

The meeting brought together senior government and security officials, including Internal Security Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo, Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja, ICT Authority CEO Jessy Kiveu Maruti and NCIC CEO Dr Daniel Mutegi Giti.

Omollo said the government would continue strengthening cybersecurity through improved coordination, investigations, prosecutions, protection of critical information infrastructure and greater public awareness as Kenya expands its digital economy.

Follow our social media pages for breaking news updates, in-depth stories and videos.

news@nairobilens.ke