Red alert: Ways cons prey on victims

Countless cases of fake job postings have been reported in Kenya where fraudsters have taken advantage of the soaring unemployment to milk job seekers.

Often, the schemes are crafted by faceless individuals who lure job seekers with attractive employment opportunities that do not require high qualifications.

The con is packaged as a requirement that the applicants pay some amount disguised as training fees.

Once the payment has been received, the fraudsters come up with excuses why the training sessions may have delayed, possibly to continue defrauding more victims before they finally vanish and their phone numbers go dead.

Individuals seeking to move homes to more affluent neighbourhoods have fallen victim to con artists posing as landlords.

In several cases, the vacant postings are made on various platforms including neighbourhood notice boards, classified sections in newspapers and online portals.

Prospective tenants are required to make some down payment for booking, refurbishment expenses or simply costs for preparing the tenancy documents.

Once the payment has been received, the fake landlords disappear leaving a cold trail after changing phone numbers.

Other ways people lose money include through M-Pesa, deposits on off-plan housing projects, Ponzi schemes and prize on fake competitions or ruffles

It is normal for faceless con artists to send out congratulatory messages in bulk informing their targets that they have been selected as winners in an ongoing ruffle or marketing campaign.