Thought it is important to share this security alert info with Kenyans : There some con artists on the prowl and the scenario below describes what they are doing.....

1.You meet an old woman along Moi Avenue, around Kenya Cinema ,Railways bus stop or some downtown public spaces..

2. She asks you for help, she wants to call someone for she is stranded.

3. You do not suspects anything, she is an old woman anyway.

4. She makes a call from your phone, it might go through or not, but she hands over you phone. NOTHING SERIOUS or nothing dramatic.

5. She goes her way, you forget about her instantly!

6. You board a Matatu, still oblivious of what is cutting.

8. On the matatu, someone complains that his phone is stolen, he gives another passenger "his" number to beep, then the passenger complies and your phone rings...

9. before you can explain, you could be dead!!



What happens? The old lady, when she took ya phone, beeped the guy, who followed you as you took the matatu, a guy who had memorized your number, then boarded the same Matt with you, then complained about loosing his phone to a pick pocket, who then gave out your number as his...

KENYANS AVOID GIVING YOUR PHONES TO STRANGERS OR EVEN TALKING TO THEM

Aiih!

The fact that some random stranger knows your number does not mean you lose your phone.

Do a simple test, zima simu. The Owner of the phone is the person who has the correct PIN.

Ok.. accomplices plus being caught completely off guard will not work in your favor.

But without accomplices, it will be tricky for the thug to pull it off.

The thug will have to be seated next to you to be credible if acting alone.

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This happened some time back.

A very smartly dressed man was walking in town in broad day light. A woman carrying a baby approached him and started hurling insults at the man accusing him of infidelity, abandoning the family for a young college girl etc. etc. She got physical, started roughing up the man and telling him the kids have been chased from school, there is nothing to eat etc.

She removes the kid from her back and tries to give him to the dude. Tells the dude to go with him to that prostitute he has been living with bla bla bla. A crowd has gathered, the woman puts the kid down and starts roughing up the guy. The guy insists he has never seen the woman. No one listens.

The woman is now totally physical. She wants "money for food and school fees". She's trying to get into his pocket but the man is fighting back. Some women from the "members of the public" join in to help the woman. They overpower the man and empty his pockets of everything and give to the "poor woman" who promptly picks up the kid and disappears in seconds. All this time people are laughing at the dude. The women who were "helping" also disappear in flush.

The man is left there with nothing and in total shock. He swears he has never seen any of those women before. He pleads with the public to pursue the woman and ask her his name, then retrieve his ID from the things they took from him and see if the names match. Too late. The women are no where to be seen. Another day in the life of a Nairobian.

umegonga ndipo