10 sure ways to lose money in Nairobi, the concrete jungle

By , K24 Digital
On Tue, 16 May, 2023 08:08 | 3 mins read
10 sure ways to lose money in Nairobi, the concrete jungle
Image used for representational purposes. PHOTO/Courtesy

Buying fake TV sets at Luthuli Avenue

Luthuli Avenue is well known as the place to be when one requires electronics at an affordable price. While there are many who do legit business along that streets, others have discovered new ways of making people pay for items that they won’t deliver.

There are people masquerading as electronic vendors selling fake TVs and then asking you to buy cards that will activate them. Don’t listen to them, buy from reputable vendors or you will take a dummy home.

Promotions at ‘Archives’ and areas with high footprint

There are those people who purport to be Safaricom claiming to be in a position to reward loyal customers. They tell you that you can win a laptop or phone, and sometimes entice you by saying they will send you money to start a business or pay school fees. Don’t let greed make you fall victim to these scammers. If they may subscribe you to their list of winners but only for you to find your M-Pesa cash deducted with no way to reverse it. When you complain, they will gang up against you.

Spin and win apps

These con artists tell you to spin with a certain amount of money so as to win a certain amount of money in return, however, in reality, there’s nothing that you will win. Don’t download or subscribe to any app that you are not sure of or do not know how it works.

Binary boards

Binary options let traders make a profit from price fluctuations in multiple global markets, but it’s important to understand the risks and rewards involved. To attract people, these options are mostly marketed by celebrities or renowned personalities in Kenya. They always depict lavish lifestyles on social media and tell you that you need to buy a boat to which will trade on your behalf so that you too live lavishly. It’s all lies.

Sure bets

These scammers tell people to pay a certain amount of money on bets, and they promise you will definitely win up to ten times more and some people believe them because of greed. Remember when the deal is too good, think twice.

Online dating

There are two popular scams related to online dating. The popular one is where fraudsters sign up for dating sites and create attractive profiles. Once it appears that you two have money and connections, they will proceed to ask you for money for an emergency or something else and that you are the only person who can bail them out. Most of those sites put attractive photos of ladies but they are actually men behind the faces. Don’t give anyone that you have never met physically money for fare to come to your place.

The other one involves local dating pages where they ask you to pay for a chance to date a foreigner. They pay several people to share success stories and fake pictures. Once you pay they give you the number of the person you liked which in most cases is that of a Kenyan claiming to be a foreigner. You will never meet that person because they keep changing stories. When you try to ask for a refund, the administrator will block you.

Hookups

This one targets the men likely to take random women homes for sex. Some of the women are thieves and will demand crazy amounts of cash. They will make a lot of noise to make the target, calling him a rapist so as to be paid. To avoid embarrassment most men end up paying lots of cash for no reason.

Phone thieves in ‘Matatus’

Be careful where you sit in Matatus. If you decide to sit next to the driver, be very careful. The trick is a distraction by the driver who will tell you to close the windows, but in the process, they will steal your phone while at it.

The other bit is when someone seated next to you claims to have misplaced their phone and asks you to help them find it by calling their numbers. Once they have your contacts, they will say that they have finally found the phone but behind the scenes, they have registered your number. They will later use another passenger in the matatu to dial your number and claim that your phone is theirs.

Watching Wassup or Youtube videos for payment

They tell you to register first and then when you watch to a certain level, they will pay you cash. Little do you know that the registration fee is their money. You will be conned.

Cons artists who claim to increase Fuliza or Hustler Fund limit

These people even have a rate card to show you the amount that you will pay to have such services. Your money is all they want and once you pay it, they will disappear without increasing any of your limits. Be alert!

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