Disappearance of Notorious Cyber Criminals Causes Panic in Bomet and Narok Counties

The disappearance of two men along the Narok-Mai Mahiu Highway has caused panic in Bomet and Narok Counties. 

Also in panic according to police are the cyber-criminal underworld.

Kiplangat Maritim alias Elvis Chepkosa and Dominic Kipng’eno Lang’at alias Hillary Muge are missing since December 5.

They were traveling in the company of a woman to Bomet from Nairobi when the incident happened.

On December 5, 2024 Chepkosa and Dominic are said to have disappeared in the Mutarakwa area along the Mai Mahiu-Narok highway after a Toyota Prado they were in was shot at the tires and the occupants of the Prado abducted by masked individuals into a waiting vehicle. Police investigations show that the said Prado whose registration number were captured was in October, 2022 intercepted while ferrying sandalwood worth Sh2 million in Maili Saba area along Nakuru –Nyahururu highway.

Chepalungu sub-county police boss Panton Analo said his office is working closely with the relatives of the missing persons to help trace them.

Their close friends and relatives are suggesting that they may have been abducted by their own associates over deals gone sour.

People also said that there is a high likelihood that the two who had been linked to scamming claims might have obtained huge amounts of money from their scams and refused to share the proceeds with their accomplices.

“There is a likelihood they may have opted to scheme for their own disappearance to lead their associates to believe that they were targeted by law enforcement agencies,” said an official aware of the probe.

Others believe that their disappearance may have been orchestrated by vengeful victims who have lost millions of shillings from their cybercrime activities.

Chepkosa and Dominic, who are aged 34 and 28 years respectively are notorious for planning and executing intricate cyber scams which include SIM swapping, credit card fraud and even armed robberies.

In February 2024, Chepkosa and his associates were arrested for robbery with violence against one victim. The case is ongoing at Kericho Law Courts.

Chepkosa and Dominic exploited weaknesses in mobile networks to conduct SIM swap enabling them to access victims online financial platforms which include   mobile money and bank accounts from where they withdrew funds using money transfer platforms such as Neteller and Skrill and transferred the funds to bank and mobile money accounts.

They also laundered money by converting it into crypto currency and hiding it in Crypto wallet accounts from where they transferred it to third parties who in turn withdrew the money and delivered it to the cybercriminals in cash after getting a small commission.

According to police, Chepkosa and Dominic have recruited hundreds of youths from Bomet County who have specialized in social engineering (Phishing) which they use to extract personal identifiable information from their victims and later use to Sim- Swap their phone numbers, thereafter withdrawing money from their mobile wallets and bank accounts.

They have expanded the criminal network hence the vice has become widespread in other counties such as Narok, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Kisumu, Nairobi and Mombasa Counties.

Chepkosa and Dominic live a lavish lifestyle bankrolled by money obtained from their cyber-related crimes.

They have amassed wealth which includes palatial homes, commercial plots and livestock.

Chepkosa lives a luxurious and philanthropic lifestyle.

He actively participates in charitable events in the community around Bomet and beyond therefore gaining respect and is regarded as successful hence has become a role model among the youth, majority of whom have dropped out of school at primary, secondary and university levels to venture into cybercrime in a bid to get rich like him. He is also said to have sponsored some politicians during 2022 general elections.

Sources close to Chepkosa’s families revealed that Chepkosa has built a palatial house in Chepalungu Subcounty in Bomet County.

He also owns a 10-acre piece of land in the same village worth Sh12 million.

He has also built a bungalow on half an acre plot in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County valued about Sh12 million.

According to an audit, he is said to have bought a Toyota Premio motor vehicle for his wife.

On the other hand, Dominic is said to have recently built a palatial house worth over Sh9 million in Solobwek village in Narok West Subcounty.

He has a Toyota Fielder motor vehicle and also recently acquired a brand-new Toyota Hilux.

Dominic also has several plots spread across Narok County.

The cybercrime activities of Chepkosa, Dominic and their associates not only lead to fleecing members of the public of their hard earned money, but has left many victims depressed leading to several committing suicide while others have lost their jobs.

Cyber related scams continue to thrive in the country as cyber criminals continue to steal millions of shillings every day by siphoning money from bank and mobile money accounts of hardworking Kenyans.

Police have upped efforts to address the menace amid their moves to innovate new tricks to steal.

Cyber criminals are becoming more emboldened in carrying out more intricate scams after discovering more loopholes presented by the digital era.

Cybercrime experts are urging members of the public to be vigilant and take safety precautions to avoid losing their hard-earned monies to scammers.

These cybersecurity measure include putting in place two-factor authentication protocols, use of strong passwords which cannot be easily cracked by criminals.

They also urge the public to be avoid falling prey to scammers who use social engineering techniques to obtain credit card details which are used by the scammers to access bank accounts.

Further, members of the public are advised to keep their credit cards safely and avoid sharing their credit cards details such as card number, expiry date and CVV since those are the details used by cyber criminals to access bank accounts.

Police also advice Kenyans to ensure use of legitimate websites or apply for prepaid cards from banks which they can load whenever they need to make an online payment and immediately report loss of credit cards concerned institutions and have their accounts blocked to keep their money safe.

“They should also avoid clicking on random links that are sent by unknown individuals claiming to be from financial institutions or while on social media.”

The disappearance of Chepkosa and Dominic should serve as a self-searching moment for the Kenyan youth who have been lured to cybercrime, another official said.

“Although it may seem lucrative and attractive, cybercrime does not pay and may in the end cause more anguish and suffering to the youths and their families who might find themselves entangled in vicious revenge schemes perpetrated by the underworld of cyber criminals or by falling into the hands of law enforcers hence rendering everything they acquired using cybercrime proceeds useless.”