Nairobi — A notorious gang that has been hacking people's credit cards before using them to purchase bitcoins and convert them to Kenyan currency have been arrested in Nakuru.

The gang operating from houses in the Milimani neighborhood have been on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) radar in the past few days over their criminal activities.

"Francis Maina Wambui Alias Nick, 26, and Zellic Alusa, 25, both students at Kenyatta university were arrested during the raid in the company of two young ladies, at an apartment in Nakuru's posh Milimani neighborhood," said the DCI.

According to the DCI, in the sophisticated crime that is gaining currency in the country, the students create fake email accounts which they use to hack credit cards of innocent persons, especially those living in foreign countries, and use them to buy bitcoins that are then converted to Kenyan currency.

The agency stated that the suspects then use the proceeds from their criminal activities to live lavishly and buy properties.

"Among the documents recovered in the house was a land sale agreement entered on May, 25, for a property valued at Sh 850,000 in Juja," said the DCI.

Some of the items recovered during the operation were five laptops, four mobile phones, two wifi gadgets, three hard drives, and assorted SIM cards.

On Monday, while commissioning the DCI National Forensic Laboratory, President Uhuru Kenyatta, called for the strengthening of the Cyber and Digital forensic lab to deal with contemporary crimes that involve misuse of technology.

Bitcoin is a digital currency which operates free of any central control or the oversight of banks or governments.

The DCI noted that tech-savvy criminals have taken advantage of this to hack into people's bank accounts, buy bitcoins, and leave little or no trail.