Telecommunication companies, including Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom, face renewed pressure to strengthen consumer protection measures after complaints linked to scam calls and text messages surged 83 per cent to their highest level in a year, as fraudsters continue to misuse mobile networks to target customers.
Although telecommunications operators may not automatically be held liable for unlawful content transmitted through their networks, they could face legal responsibility where negligence is established — including failure to respond appropriately to known SIM-swap fraud risks, inadequate security safeguards or confirmed customer data breaches.
New disclosures from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) show complaints relating to fraud and scams increased to 86 between April and June 2026, up from 47 reported in the previous quarter.
The figure was also significantly higher than the 52 complaints recorded between October and December last year and the 23 lodged between July and September.
Fraud and scam complaints were among the leading consumer concerns during the quarter, alongside quality of service, digital financial services and mobile money, as well as SIM-related security risks.
The CA recorded 110 complaints related to digital financial services and mobile money during the review period, the highest level in at least a year.
The figure was marginally higher than the 109 complaints received between January and March, but sharply above the 28 complaints reported between October and December and the 13 cases lodged between July and September last year.
“[The increase] points to the continued evolution of fraud from traditional fraudulent calls and text messages to more complex schemes involving phishing, impersonation, fake promotions, social engineering, fraudulent mobile money transactions and online marketplace scams,” the CA said.
The growing convergence between telecommunications services and digital financial platforms such as online banking is placing greater responsibility on mobile network operators to strengthen customer safeguards and protect subscriber information.
According to the CA, fraud-related complaints are now extending beyond voice and data services to include digital financial services and mobile money (110 complaints), cybercrime and criminal use of ICT infrastructure (75), data breaches (19), confidentiality and privacy breaches (10), and unauthorised sharing of personal information (10).
“These complaints point to emerging risks associated with compromised subscriber identities, unauthorised SIM replacement, identity theft and the misuse of personal information to facilitate fraud,” the regulator said.
The CA has flagged increased use of psychological manipulation to deceive victims, technically referred to as social engineering, alongside phishing attempts and the use of stolen personal information.
The regulator also raised concerns over weaknesses in customer identity verification processes and, in some cases, possible non-compliance with operational procedures that could expose consumers to unauthorised SIM replacement and subsequent financial or identity-related fraud.
The concerns are piling pressure on Kenyan telcos to strengthen subscriber verification processes, improve fraud detection systems and work more closely with banks and law enforcement agencies to disrupt criminals exploiting digital platforms to access customers’ wallets and financial accounts.
This week, Interpol flagged Kenya as one of the countries facing growing cybercrime threats in Africa, citing mobile money fraud and SIM swapping among emerging risks. It estimated that Kenyans lost Sh491.6 million ($3.8 million) to SIM-swap fraudsters in 2025.
