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Nairobians share stories of loss of money and valuables to city conmen


Have you ever fallen victim to Nairobi con men? Well, some Nairobians took time on social media to narrate their ordeals in the hands of conmen.

The ordeals ranged from victims who talked to strangers on the streets only for them to end up following them blindly and losing their valuables.

Other Nairobians narrated how business deals by conmen saw them lose thousands of shillings.

The commonest con game in town is that of someone dropping an envelope stuffed with ‘money’ upon which being picked by a potential victim, a stranger emerges and offers unsolicited advice on how to split the money. The victim is then lured into a back street where he or she is robbed of cash and valuables.

Here are some of the stories Nairobians shared on their experiences:

“Niliambiwa kwetu vile tuko na shida, ati ametumwa na Mungu kuniombea, kumbe deal ni niache vitu zote, pesa simu na handbag, from OTC to Mumbi House, kurudi, nilijua sijui, niliomba fare. I came across an elderly woman with the same story, kusikia niache kila kitu niende nikaombe, I told her nimeibiwa hii Nairobi na huo ujanja nitaenda kuomba nazo hivo ndio nilienda nikiendanga,” one user wrote.

“Nilikopa M-Shwari nikaongeza na tupesa nlikuwa nazo nikaenda Kamkunji kubuy vitu, nikajibebea vitu zangu then kufika Luthuli avenue kimtu kikakuja ati kinibebee nimpee 50bob, nikaburgain akakubali 30bob hadi fire station, haikupita ata 5min… gari ikpita mbele yetu na huyo mtu akapotea hivo na mali yangu yote… nilijipata na mti ya mop nazurura tao ata sikuwa najielewa for about 30 minutes,” another narrated.

“March 2016… My pal hits me up ati kuja gig ya UN ya data analysis a friend of his is hooking up with. He was looking for more people. So we were to be picked up at Thika tuende training hapo Kasa…We were picked up by now the boss wa kupeana job. Ndo sisi hao, hadi kahawa. So this driver detours to some supermarket and sends my friend some queencakes. Kidogo kidogo nikatumwa yoghurt. We both left our bags kwa viti. Bruh!!! Haha. Kuingia super I aski my pal, how come ni sisi tumetumwa? Panic attack mara hiyo! Kufika nje they gone. MIA. simu zikazimwa. Tukavuka bridge tukakula queencakes na yoghurt. Thats how we lost my pals 70k worth laptop. Ride hadi home was the longest,” yet another user narrated.

COMMON TRICKS

“Mimi I was conned by my neighbour who we were friends… alinikujia na sijui tender amepewa na Gava ya kusupply tents Taita Taveta and needed 1.2m, I believed him coz some few months before he just changed and was balling and the deal sounded too good to ignore… following morning I told him to come with an agreement and tukaandikiana then gave him 600k and promised to give him the rest of the money in the course of the week, he left me with a cheque ya 790k and told me I’ll get my money back plus profit in 2weeks time… when I did this, didn’t consult my guy but later told him and he was mad and told me not to give the guy any more money until the deal iivane… sema the guy only paid me profit, gave me 2 bouncing cheques and went mia… upto date I have never received my principal amount of more than half a million… but bumped into him last year and caused drama in town hadi tukaenda central police… sema like 5 more guys walikuja forth with the same story kama yangu waliconiwa doh by this fella I once called my neighbour… kesi bado iko kortini but I gave up hope of getting my cash back,” another Nairobian narrated.

“Hahaaa my case was tricky… yaani upto date hio scene huappear kama dream, it happened two years ago at St Peter Cleavers near Jack & Jill (yenye ilichomekanga) yaani I can’t believe that I was that naive by then, hey sasa niliona crowd hapo tuu nje ya St Peters cleavers , mimi na curiosity yangu nikataka kujua nini ilikuwa ikihappen hapo, kumbe watu walikuwa wakicheza kamari (gambling) and so I got excited after thinking of how I would double my cash without sweating (hehee sema tamaa ya kutaka kutajirika haraka) I first gave them 200bob then 2k hey the deal became good and sweet and I wasn’t thinking twice either (poor me) Those guys told me that my cash had doubled itself and I was super excited.I gave them 6k. The worst happened they escorted me to an ATM and I withdrew 40k for them and the rest is a history… wherever they are may they never know peace!” was the story of one victim.

“Nilikuwa hapo archives nikipiga raundi tu jamaa akapita amevaa suti, kuenda kutoa fon kwa mfuko akaangusha noti kathaa za thao, mi kupick nikitaka kumshw fala ingne ikakam na nyuma ikanishow heri tugawane hio pesa kuliko kurudisha cz pia yy amesota, Akanishw nimpee chenye tu iko kwa mfuko yangu, hey nilipea 7k coz hii yenye nilikuwa nayo ilikuwa more than that, wacha nikaweke pesa yangu kwa fon!! Nilipata ni 2k original hizo zingine ni photocopy za thao,” a Nairobian recounted.

“Mimi kuna jamaa hapo Kenyatta Avenue, I&M Building, alikuja amevaa suti akaniambia anatoka Thika na ameshinda 200k kwa zile vitu za kuscratch za yellow, but hana ID so hawezi pewa pesa. Aakaniambia nimsaidie kumchukulia pesa hàlafu atanipea 30K, I saw it’s a good deal, he took me to the scratch card challenge and inquired on the winning tickets, he was given directions, he made calls to the ‘manager’ nkaambiwa niende he took me hadi hapo karibu na hiyo building, he then told me I give him my wallet and my 2 phones for security purposes, I did so. Nikaenda, kufika entrance I explained to the security men, my friend nkaambiwa kuja na jamaa amewein, kufika penye nilimwacha, sijawai mwona mpaka leo hii, hapo ndo nlijua Nairobi Iko na wenyewe,” another narrated.