KUWAIT CITY, May 14: Security authorities have uncovered what is being described as a highly coordinated fraud scheme allegedly carried out by a woman who targeted taxi drivers using electronic payment and identity verification apps.

According to a security source, the suspect would take taxis and discreetly collect drivers’ personal details, such as name and civil ID number, displayed inside the vehicle behind the driver's seat. She then allegedly used this information to register digital payment accounts in the drivers’ names, enabling purchases to be made and billed to them later.

Investigators said the woman would further manipulate the process by asking drivers to use the “Kuwait Mobile ID” application under the pretext of paying fares digitally, while completing verification steps without their full awareness. Once the accounts were activated, goods were reportedly purchased online and later resold.

The suspect has reportedly confessed to committing at least 70 similar offenses during questioning at Salmiya police station. Authorities have ordered her detention while compiling multiple complaints filed across different stations and summoning victims for identification procedures.

The case came to light after several expatriate drivers, Arab and Asian nationals, reported receiving alerts from installment companies about overdue payments for purchases they say they never made. Investigators noted that the suspect, described as being in her thirties and well-dressed, often claimed her phone battery was dead before persuading drivers to complete digital payment steps on her behalf.

Authorities say the electronic authentication process was sufficient to link transactions to the victims’ identities, resulting in financial obligations being wrongly assigned to them.
Officials also noted that existing traffic regulations require taxi drivers to display identification details inside their vehicles as a passenger safety measure, which may have inadvertently enabled the alleged scheme.