A former employee of Safaricom has suffered a major blow after the court upheld his dismissal over allegations linked to a SIM swap fraud scheme, dismissing his Sh12 million compensation claim.
The case, which has sparked debate online over insider fraud within telecom companies, revolved around accusations that the former staff member participated in irregular SIM replacement activities that exposed customers to financial loss through mobile money theft.
According to court findings, the employee was dismissed after internal investigations connected him to unauthorized SIM swap transactions, a type of fraud where criminals illegally take control of a victim’s phone number to access sensitive accounts, including M-Pesa wallets and bank services.
The former worker moved to court seeking over Sh12 million in compensation, arguing that his dismissal was unfair and unlawful.
However, the court sided with the telecommunications giant, ruling that Safaricom had sufficient grounds to terminate his employment after investigations revealed misconduct tied to customer account security.
The ruling now adds to growing concerns over SIM swap fraud in Kenya, a crime that has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years.
Fraudsters often collude with insiders or exploit weak verification processes to hijack mobile numbers before draining victims’ accounts.
Kenya has witnessed a sharp rise in complaints related to SIM swap scams, especially targeting customers with large M-Pesa balances.
Reports have previously indicated that telecom firms and investigators have been under pressure to tighten security systems to protect subscribers from insider-linked fraud schemes.
The judgment is likely to be viewed as a strong warning to employees working in sensitive customer-service and telecommunications departments, especially those handling SIM registration and replacement processes.
Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecommunications company and operator of the widely used M-Pesa platform, has repeatedly stated that it is investing heavily in fraud detection systems and customer protection measures as cybercrime evolves.
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