Helb warns public of fraudsters
The Higher Education Loans Board, (Helb) on Monday revealed a new trick used by fraudsters to con unsuspecting Kenyans.
This came after messages were circulated to select email accounts purporting to be from the Helb official email account.
In a statement, Helb shared a sample message where fraudsters reach out to a user and claim that his/her account is inactive and demand an activation fee of Sh2,200.
“Our attention has been drawn to the below email whose content and address are fake,” said Helb.
Our attention has been drawn to the below email whose content and address are fake. We wish to notify our esteemed customers that our official contact centre email address is contactcentre@helb.co.ke. pic.twitter.com/S7V3aBUJgw
— OFFICIAL HELB PAGE (@HELBpage) July 19, 2021
As a way of luring the user, the fraudsters claim there is a pending disbursement which will only be completed after the user has paid the activation fee.
According to Helb, all users should disregard such messages as not account activation fee is required by the agency.
Helb is supposed to be a revolving fund where beneficiaries who have finished their studies pay back the loans to support a fresh group of students.
Students from low-income families rely heavily on the Helb loans and bursaries to finance their higher education.