Many Kenyans who came to Nairobi for the first time have hilarious stories about how they were taken to the cleaners by con artists.
Nairobi is tough. If you are not conned by sweet-talking salesmen, you will be drugged or mugged. However hard you try to stay safe; they will get you, one way or another. It doesn’t matter that you do not walk in seedy neighbourhoods, or take a matatu or stay online, they will find you somehow.
In some cleverly executed con schemes, it would be a sign of idiocy not to fall into their traps. These men can spot a first-timer to the city a kilometre away. If the target happens to covet the 'rare, unbelievable' deals, their goose is cooked.
In this Article we will look at common Tricks used to con and Rob Kenyans and Visitors alike in the Country's Capital.
Walking Mob.
The walking mob sometimes targets victims leaving banks and pretending that the victim is a thief and attacks him while stealing from them. It’s common with night robberies in the CBD, estates, and concerts.
It is also common in cases where robbers work in cahoots with rogue bank attendants who inform them of customers who have made huge withdrawals from the city.
They then corner the victim in crowded areas of the CBD - and attack in the guise of saving a “lady” whose belongings the victim has stolen. Within 30 seconds, the mission is done and they disperse in different directions.
Sweet Deal When Selling/Buying Online Items.
You are selling an electronic item (mostly expensive gadgets such as MacBooks and Play stations) on online e-commerce platforms, and someone offers to buy it without negotiating.
They ask that you meet at the Archives. The buyer is usually accompanied by a second person - which appears innocent given they are carrying a load of cash.
They ask to test it at a “random” shop across the road (Luthuli Avenue and adjacent areas). You walk there, and they will politely ask the attendant for a power source where they can test it.
A third person will walk in as a customer, and the shop owner will ask you to create a way. The one testing the phone/laptop stays behind while his main accomplice takes out some money and distracts you as if counting cash.
Then the accomplice shouts that his friend is running away; you turn and notice the “buyer” struggling to open the back door.
Instinctively, you run towards him - just in time for the shop attendant to angrily intervenes with a slap to your face - “why are you people playing at my shop?”. You turn, and the friend carrying the cash is nowhere to be seen, the buyer is gone, and the laptop has also vanished!
A related trick happens when buying phones, but a quick flip happens - just after you have tested and paid for the phone. You will get home and realise you carried a mud-filled dummy phone - or something more embarrassing.
Fake Lift.
The trick has been around for years - with slight variations over time. It was prevalent last year after several incidents happened along Thika Road.
It targets passengers who are in a hurry - by offering them a quick lift or cheap transport in a private vehicle.
A female passenger will occasionally pose as a passenger on the highway terminus - to encourage the target to join in (she will probably tell you about how the same car saved her last week!).
Once inside the car, the robbers deviate to remote areas where they steal your belongings - and in some extreme cases, demand ransom from your family or loved ones.
Elderly Woman Seeking Directions.
This is one of the oldest robbery tricks and has been around for at least four decades.
A woman will approach you, seeking directions for some “woishe” cause. Something like a certain doctor who treats children living with disabilities.
You will, obviously, not know the non-existent doctor, and the woman starts sharing her troubles. In the initial version of the trick, a young gentleman would pass by and be called to give similar directions, and voila, he will!
The woman will then ask if you guys can contribute to her fare - the gentleman will do so - prompting you to give something.
In the modern version, however, the elderly woman will distract you with a pungent smell as she will be using a stupefying drug - Scopolamine. She will also have cotton on her nostrils.
The drug, also known as devil’s breath, takes away your free will and turns you into a zombie. It has seen many Kenyans robbed millions of shillings - some taking their robbers home to fetch their ATM cars and draining their banks.
Street Lottery/Gambling, Head or Tails.
This trick has been around for the longest time. It is widely known but it never runs out of fashion.
A group of thugs sets up an online gambling game where you play head or tails (sometimes you pick a horse or donkey), and whoever gets it right wins instant cash.
They will then lure you with a free game and even offer to pay your winnings - typically less than Ksh50. The victim then realises that the winnings could be higher if their stake increases.
As soon as the staked amount increases - the lucky streak runs out, and now the victim plays to recover their cash which continues until they realise that it is all a con. The setup is quickly dismantled when the victims raise the alarm - and they quickly set up shop elsewhere.
You Won a Gift Promo.
This has become one of the latest tricks in the dreaded Archives area in Nairobi CBD.
These gangs operate in groups of up to 15 individuals working on one target. Their victims are pre-identified - mostly young people who appear to be green in the ways of the city under the sun. They also target elderly and middle-aged persons who appear to be visiting Nairobi after a long break.
A female gang member will walk towards you with a sweet promise that you have won a gift promo - a t-shirt, cup, or something like that. As you consult on what the gift is about, a jubilant crowd will walk towards you, and in the melee - you will be robbed of your valuables within seconds.
There are reports that the gang has the support of compromised police officers, who were caught on camera conducting a robbery while a cop was about 20 meters away.
The best defense tactic here is to stay focused while walking in crowded streets and not be distracted by sweet, random offers. Any attempt to fight back can be dangerous as the robbers bear crude weapons which can kill - if not careful.
Public Transport Commotion.
A group of passengers (usually smartly-dressed middle-aged men) board the matatu and sit or stand in different areas. One of them shouts that cops are checking for seat belts, or excess passengers (the tricks keep changing depending on the time).
Amid the commotion, phones and wallets are snatched and the thieves quickly ask to exit at the next stage.
The most effective self-protective measure in this situation is to guard your valuables whenever there is a commotion in a matatu.
Bahasha ya pesa.
You're a broke college student changing buses on your way to Kathonzweni village after your first semester. Coming from a supermarket at OTC, a smartly-dressed man hurries past you and drops a white envelope. Before you alert him, another man grabs, opens it and there, voila! It is money.
"No one else saw us, tugawane!" he offers. You retreat to a public toilet where he proposes you go count the quid after leaving your phone or wallet as 'security'. Inside the bahasha is a Sh100 note attached to worthless pieces of newspapers. Of course, you know what happens to your phone and wallet.
Buying electronics from the street.
A man wants to sell you a smartphone at a ridiculously low price. He takes you behind some stall to show you this phone and of course, the phone is in perfect shape. He then tells you he wants to ‘remove’ his sim card. After he does, you quickly pay him (give him 5 Gs) and he handes you the phone. Then he disappears pretty fast. After boarding a matatu, you decide to boot your very first smartphone, very lucky to have bought at an insanely low price but it does not boot. You decided to remove the back cover and behold it's clay wrapped in a black polythene and bolted in a body of a phone.
While most of you may not fall for a scam as this, you may actually get some guys in the streets selling real phones. But don’t buy those phones. Just know someone got mugged and you may be tracked down and charged for it. Or, this phone may be essentially dead and you may not realize until after a few days.
There are is also a deluge of fake phones in stalls in downtown. You may get a Samsung phone normally retailing at Ksh 20,000 at a quarter the price. A phone is not authentic because it has a Samsung trademark on it.
Generally avoid anyone asking for help.
Nairobi is full of scammers. You can not even trust someone who is asking for help from you especially in downtown.
Some of the scammers use charms. A friend of a friend got his laptop and money stolen because he stopped to help someone. This guy was asking for directions. He had a folder with some documents. He claimed he wanted directions to some office. This friend lost ‘consciousness’ for like 20 minutes after the encounter. He then discovered his backpack and phone were missing.
Some other scammers can throw a pen on your way and ask you to pick it for them. Please don’t.
I’m not asking you to have a callous heart. I’m asking you to be careful.
