🇰🇪
KENYA
Interpol flagged
FRAUD TYPES
SIM swap fraud, mobile money fraud (M-Pesa), banking hacks, sextortion
KEY FACTS
3,030 ransomware detections (2024). 130 arrest warrants for banking fraud. 657.8M cyber threats detected Jul-Sep 2024.
REPORT FRAUD IN KENYA1▸
1 agency you can contact. Tap one for how to reach it and what to have ready.
DCIDirectorate of Criminal Investigations▸
NATIONAL · CYBER / CRYPTO
BORN HERE▸
Nobody in our case files was born in Kenya yet.
OPERATED HERE▸
Nobody in our case files is documented as operating from Kenya yet.
FRAUD METHODS TIED HERE1▸
From the Global Fraud Encyclopedia and the cases above. Tap a method for its page.
#32 SIM Swap FraudEncyclopedia ▸KNOWN FOR▸
THE PICTURE▸
Kenya's best-known historic fraud is the Goldenberg scandal (1990–1993): fictitious gold and diamond exports claimed inflated export compensation, costing the state the equivalent of more than 10% of GDP. The alleged architect, Kamlesh Pattni, was cleared by the High Court in 2013 (Wikipedia). More recent enforcement centres on online investment fraud. In INTERPOL's Operation Red Card 2.0, Kenyan police made 27 arrests linked to fraudulent investment schemes (INTERPOL, Feb 2026). Kenya is a party to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime (Wikipedia, 2026). We did not find an official by-type fraud breakdown in this research pass.
TOP FRAUDSTERS FROM HERE1▸
Kamlesh Pattni ACQUITTEDREPORT PENDING
KSh 5.8bn (sum at issue in the charges) · 1990–1993
Head of Goldenberg International, accused of claiming export compensation on fictitious gold and diamond exports in the Goldenberg scandal.
SOURCE: Wikipedia (Kamlesh Pattni; Goldenberg scandal); High Court cleared him, Mar 2013
FRAUD BY CATEGORY▸
No official body here publishes a breakdown of fraud by type, so we show none rather than guess.
KEY NUMBERS▸
27 Arrests linked to fraudulent investment schemes in INTERPOL Operation Red Card 2.0 (INTERPOL, 18 Feb 2026)
>10% of GDP Estimated cost of the 1990s Goldenberg export-compensation fraud (Wikipedia, Goldenberg scandal)
WHO FIGHTS IT▸
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission lead investigations. The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act 2018 covers online fraud.
Kenya is a party to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime.
It took part in INTERPOL Operation Red Card 2.0 (Dec 2025–Jan 2026): 27 arrests.
SOURCES▸
INTERPOL, 'Major operation in Africa targeting online scams nets 651 arrests' (Operation Red Card 2.0), 18 Feb 2026
Wikipedia: Goldenberg scandal; Kamlesh Pattni (accessed Sep 2026)
Wikipedia, 'Budapest Convention on Cybercrime' (list of parties as of May 2026)
UN population estimates (1 July 2023), via Wikipedia 'List of countries by population (United Nations)'
Case lists and figures compiled September 2026 from court records, regulators and major press; statuses change. Series reports above are fact-checked case files.