There are plenty of conning tricks used by criminals to steal money from innocent Kenyans.As a Kenyan, you have to be aware of these tricks in order to avoid being conned.
1. BEWARE OF CALLS CLAIMING TO BE FROM SAFARICOM CUSTOMER CARE OR HEADQUARTERS. CHECK OUT THE TRICKS BELOW!!
– You receive a call from someone claiming to be a safaricom representative and your line is actually not yours and has been registered to a multinational company eg coca cola or Eabl and will be de-activated in a few days. You have to prove its yours by telling them the pin on the original card you bought with. In confusion you reveal your pin, they call Safaricom, deactivate your line, renew it and if you had anything in m-pesa they clear.
– You get a call from people claiming to be safaricom. They say they want to activate for you a service that will help you reverse money directly in case you send to a wrong number.(who wouldn’t want that!!!) They ask you to get another phone from a friend or whoever you are with,give them the number to call you so that you follow the instructions of actions to perform on your phone. They direct you to the ATM withdrawal option on m-pesa, tell you to put either 286 286(equity agent number) or 555 555(Pesapoint agent number). They tell you to read them the code(authorization code) sent to you to complete the activation of the service. You do that and you M-pesa is cleared since all you need to withdraw from the ATMs is the authorization code and your number(which they have already since they called you.)
– Common among friends and people you might know. Somebody borrows your phone, saves his number as M-pesa. Forwards you a M-Pesa message and then requests you to give him the cash(often an amount you can afford easily.)
– Common in areas where M-pesa outlet is not very near. Mostly bus stops along the roads or estates. A smartly dressed person driving a top of the range car approaches and requests if you might know an M-pesa outlet nearby. After some explanation, they ask if they can transfer you the cash(all or part) depending on what you have on you and even a promise to send you extra as a ‘thank you’ for saving them the hustle. Say they send you 2500 and you give the 2k cash. After you give the cash and they send you the cash and you get the safaricom confirmation. They leave, call customer care and reverse the transaction.
– There are others who send money wrongly, you receive the message and the money is there for sure. They call you to return the money and as you confirm they call safaricom and reverse the transaction. If you had money in your account and try to return you end up sending them your money since they already reversed through safaricom. NB: if any genuine person sends money wrongly let them reverse it from safaricom themselves.
– When doing a transaction on M-Pesa beware of people behind you. Most of us are very slow when typing on phone and there are people who are taking advantage to steal our pin numbers. They hang around M-Pesa outlets and as you withdraw they just check what you type as your pin and after you leave the place, your phone is snatched and woe unto you if you have any money left on M-Pesa. Its emptied from the ATMs.
– You receive messages claiming that you have won in a competition currently running from a multinational company. You are cautioned not to send any money to claim your prize. You are told to contact a number given to get instructions how to redeem your prize. They tell you since the amount is big 50k to 100k they will deposit it directly to your account so that you can withdraw it. At this point you are directed to th ATM withdrawal option on m-pesa, tell you to put either 286 286(equity agent number) or 555 555(Pesapoint agent number). They tell you to read them the code(authorization code) sent to you to complete the deposit to your account. You do that and you M-pesa is cleared since all you need to withdraw from the ATMs is the authorization code and your number(which they have already since they called you.) (You cant win in a competition you have not participated.)
– ATM WITHDRAWAL CONMEN PROCESS: What happens is since the ATM withdrawal requires just you phone number and the authorisation code, They caution you not to give out your pin even to them. When you enter the ATM withdrawal number 286286 (Equity) or 555555 (Pesa-point) an authorisation code is sent to you. Then they tell you to send them the authorisation code. If you send them the authorisation code they just go to the ATM and since they already have your number(obvious since you have been communicating) they withdraw whatever you have on you phone.you only realise when the confirmation sms is sent you for the withdrawal. Happens mostly to many since they dont know about the pesa-point code.555 555 is mostly used since most of us dont know about it. Some conmen even tell you they are safcom agents testing their new ATM application which is not yet operational and they need your input but not your pin since its your secret. You may easily fall for it if you dont know.
