The government has called for heightened vigilance against mobile-enabled fraud after an analysis by the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4) found mobile money was used as the payment method or destination in 51 of 102 reported computer fraud cases between February and July 2026.
The findings were presented during the NC4’s 36th meeting chaired by Principal Secretary for the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration Raymond Omollo.
According to the findings, mobile money fraud was the largest single fraud category, accounting for 19 cases, or 18.6% of the total reviewed. Investment and forex schemes followed with 16 cases, while cryptocurrency scams accounted for 12 cases.
The government said the findings highlighted the growing risks facing users of digital financial services and called for stronger action against fraudsters.
It said response measures would include closer monitoring of high-risk mobile money transactions, faster preservation of digital evidence and improved channels for escalating cases to telecommunications providers.
Authorities will also strengthen intelligence gathering on investment, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency schemes, while targeting fake websites and impersonation accounts.
The government warned that fraud complaints would not be ignored.
“Fraud complaints will be investigated and offenders prosecuted in accordance with the law,” it said.
Members of the public were urged to exercise greater caution when using mobile banking and other digital financial services, particularly when responding to online investment, cryptocurrency, shopping and recruitment offers.
Users were advised never to share personal identification numbers, passwords, one-time passwords or other authentication details.
The government also encouraged the use of multi-factor authentication where available and urged members of the public to promptly report suspicious phone numbers, accounts, websites and transactions to service providers, regulators and law enforcement agencies.
The NC4 said reporting of computer fraud had accelerated from May, with 70 cases, or 68.6% of the six-month total, recorded between May and July. July recorded the highest monthly figure, with 27 cases.
Separately, 23 cases, representing 22.5%, contained explicit telecommunications or SIM-related indicators.
The wider cyber threat also remains significant. The Kenya Computer Incident Response Team – Coordination Centre reported 2.3 billion cyber events during the quarter, although this represented a 30% decline from the previous quarter.
Ransomware, social engineering, malware, distributed denial-of-service attacks and AI-assisted attacks were among the main threats recorded.
The government attributed the decline in cyber events to continued collaboration and action on security advisories.
Meanwhile, NCIC warned that fake accounts, bots and AI-generated and synthetic media were increasingly being used to amplify ethnically charged narratives and organised online mobilisation.
The government said it would continue strengthening cybersecurity through better coordination, incident response, investigations, prosecution, public awareness and protection of critical information infrastructure, as it works towards a safer digital environment for Kenyans.