Nairobi Man Cries Out After His Sister Loses M-Pesa Float Of KSh 35k To Fraudsters: "It Was Bank Loan"

• A businessman in Syokimau expressed his disappointment after losing all his M-Pesa float of KSh 35,000 to fraudsters
• Francis Ndwiga said he had borrowed the money from Equity Bank to venture into the new business after changing his deliveries job
• Ndwiga said his sister operating the shop was tricked by a lady who claimed to have a Fuliza loan on her line and wanted to be sent the money on a different number

A businessman based in Syokimau has shared his frustrations after his sister operating an M-Pesa shop he had just set up, lost KSh 35,000 to fraudsters.

Francis Ndwiga decried that the money was a borrowed loan from Equity Bank, which he took to change his business from deliveries.

Fuliza loan

Ndwiga said he has no trace of the culprit since the shop was not installed with security cameras and is left with nothing to start with.

"Nothing has been recovered so far. This place has no cameras, so no footage of the culprit. I do not know how to explain it. I am frustrated," said Ndwiga in a response to TUKO.co.ke.

A woman pretending to have a Fuliza loan approached the M-Pesa agent, asking if someone could withdraw directly from Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).

She then tricked the M-Pesa lady into allowing her to use her personal phone to be sent the money and then withdraw.

"This con woman walks into our M-Pesa shop here in Syokimau and asks if there is KSh 35,000 cash. This little girl confirms there is. She asks if there is a possibility of someone withdrawing directly from CBD since she has Fuliza, and she's afraid Fuliza will do its thing," decried Ndwiga in a tweet.

The man said the sister thought the message came directly from M-Pesa and did not bother to confirm since the customer was in a hurry.

Tricks used by scammers to con M-Pes agents

In an exclusive interview with TUKO.co.ke, Safaricom confirmed that a genuine SMS showing an M-Pesa transaction does not have spaces as shown in the edited text send to the lady.

The telecommunication firm warned customers and M-Pesa agents to be wary of new tricks used by fraudsters, urging them to verify all transactions before giving money.

"Please be wary of fraudsters and confirm an M-pesa SMS before the one shred has been edited as is in this case, it has spaces which a genuine M-pesa SMS would not have.

If in doubt, you can always confirm via M-Pesa statement or by calling Safaricom Customer Care with the code for verification. Please forward the SMS to 333 for further investigations and report to the police as well," Safaricom explained.

The majority of Kenyans responded to the tweet, with some sharing their experience and measures to avoid such incidents.

@ElvisPkemoi said:

"Polee wah na hii uchumi (With this tough economy, sorry)."

@PeterCh61819890 cried out:

"I have also been conned KSh 2,700, and its my fault. It pained me because of the tough economy we are in."

@jn_shine noted:

"Wezi hii Nairobi hukua talented script writters, they are very creative to be honest."

@AndruBanker warned:

"Pole sana for the experience. In the M-Pesa business, you just need to be strict, don't entertain stories. Your sister should NOT have given out her personal number or allow withdrawals outside the till. You should already know this."

Scammers call with Safaricom number

Another Nairobi-based M-Pesa agent shared her story of how she almost lost her float to organised fraudsters in the city.

Wangari M took to Twitter, showing a screenshot of a call from 0722000000, which she confused to be from Safaricom.

Wangari M, an M-Pesa agent based in Nairobi, warned Kenyans to be alert, especially fellow agents, to new tricks employed by scammers.