Kenyatta University students arrested over Bitcoin theft scheme
Kenyatta University students arrested over the Bitcoin theft scheme at the Milimani area in Nakuru County where they have been operating from.
Two Kenyatta University students have been arrested by detectives for hacking people’s credit cards before using them to purchase bitcoins.
The detectives noted that the two are part of a gang operating a Bitcoin theft scheme.
According to the Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti, the students were identified as Francis Maina Wambui alias Nick, 26, and Zellic Alusa, 25.
The gang has been hacking people’s credit cards before using them to purchase bitcoins and then converting them to Kenyan currency.
They then spend the money on living opulently, entertaining young women, and purchasing real estate.
According to authorities, the two were apprehended with two young ladies.
“The gang operating from houses in the affluent Milimani neighborhood has been on our radar over the past few days and it was only a matter of time before our detectives smoked them out,” he said.
“In the sophisticated crime that is gaining currency in the country, the students create fake email accounts which they use to hack credit cards of innocent persons especially those living in foreign countries.”
A land sale agreement made on May 25 for a property valued at Sh850,000 in Juja was among the items collected during the raid.
Other items included; five laptops, four cellphones, two Wi-Fi devices, three hard drives, and a variety of SIM cards.
“Cyber forensic experts have since taken over investigations into the matter for a comprehensive analysis into the sophisticated crime,” Kinoti added.
The arrest comes a few days after President Uhuru Kenyatta called on the DCI to strengthen the Cyber and Digital forensic lab to deal with contemporary crimes that involve misuse of technology, during the launch of the DCI National Forensic Laboratory, on June 13.
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