Kenya's leading mobile service provider Safaricom has fired 28 of its employees because of their alleged involvement in fraud in the year ended March 2021.

A total of 22 cases are related to data privacy, with eight involving breach of policy and four SIM swap cases, while two other cases involve misappropriation of company assets.

Safaricom’s latest sustainability report released on Wednesday shows 36 investigations were conducted into alleged fraud, dismissing the 28 and earning 19 others stern warnings.

One case was escalated to government agencies for a further investigation, accrding to the telco.

The telecommunications company has affirmed that it has invested in a fraud management units specialized in analytics, process reviews and customer awareness.

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The units are meant to drive safety for clients through prompted use of machine learning and automation, continuous fraud awareness and process reviews.

“The squads have completed three key initiatives: targeting irregular subscriber registrations, focused awareness to customers and a review of the processes followed by SIM selling outlets,” read the Safaricom report.

Since the government stipulated rules to restrict the state and companies handling of information to avert misuse, data protection has become a key area of focus.

A fine of up to Sh5 million or one per cent of annual turnover for corporations has also been imposed.

A review by business advisory firm Ernst & Young shows that 41 per cent of firms in Kenya transfer client data to third-party service providers. 

The review also found that 53 per cent of companies don’t seek permission from their subscribers when sharing their data, which violates the law protecting sensitive and private info.

Some of the consequences of sharing client info with third parties include spam messaging, identity theft and exposure to bank fraud among others.

According to Safaricom, identity theft and socially engineered fraud are some of the most common crimes targeting M-Pesa clients.

“We highlighted the issues through an above-the-line campaign under the tag Jichanue and Take Control, using radio, TV and digital channels.” 

“With the aim to reach all customers, we sent out over 63 million SMS broadcasts. Additionally, our digital channels reached 9.5 million people and our radio campaign reached over eight million people,” the mobile service provider said.