Beware! Police expose fraudster gang who pose as Safaricom staff to con Kenyans

Piece by: Mpasho News
Lifestyle

Police have arrested a gang of fraudsters posing as Safaricom and StarTimes employees operating in Nairobi.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the four fraudsters use a range of merchandise including electronic goods and laptops they purport to be promoting or selling to lure their victims.

Investigations are on to establish if there are government officials involved in the syndicate.

Police say the gang normally parks their vehicles within notable busy spots in the city especially at Tea Room, along Mfangano Street next to Sizzling Hotel and around Globe Cinema round-about.

Members of the public that have supposedly used Safaricom lines for more than two years and StarTimes customers are then lured to be rewarded with new phones and other electronic items.

Those who fall prey to the trap are then requested to register by sending some amount through Mpesa and in the process, the gang members master the victim’s Mpesa PIN, after which the gang members transfer their money in the pretence of activating their accounts.

In other cases, victims are asked to hand over their identity cards for registration and in the process, they note their year of birth. Detectives have said that most Kenyans use this as their PIN and they use this to wire money from the victims' accounts.