After the Sudanese hackers' attack on Kenya's computer systems, serial phone scammers are also back to strike, trying to get the unfortunate callers to give them their details in order to gain access mainly to the M-pesa mobile phone payment service, but also to the smartphone itself in order to retrieve sensitive data or, bad luck, other user numbers to contact to try to defraud them.

There are two types of solicitation attempts encountered in recent days, by ourselves and by readers who have contacted us.
The first is a call through Whatsapp from any number. What may be misleading is the fact that the logo that appears is that of the operator Safaricom. But precisely, being a Whatsapp number, it can be guessed that it is a profile created on purpose.
In this regard, let us remember that SAFARICOM CALLS ONLY FROM NUMBER 07220000.
And that on whatsapp the only authentic service has NO NUMBER and it says SAFARICOM ZURI!

So it would be enough that, every other number qualifies as Safaricom, is blocked immediately after truncating the conversation.
In case you are distracted or have not read our warnings, know that the person on the other end of the phone, will tell you that he/she is calling precisely from Safaricom and ask you if you answer to the name of the sim card owner. So if you are the owner, he will say your name and it is likely that he has some of your other data as well. This will make you think that it is indeed an employee of the mobile phone company whose number you have.
At this point comes the reason for the phone call. The scammer tells you that your phone number may be disconnected because it appears to belong to another person.
Don't fall for it! All you would need to do to ascertain this is to go to a Safaricom center, and that is what a REAL Safaricom operator would advise you to do. The phone company cannot decide to suspend a number or worse, cancel your mpesa credit, without an in-person verification.

The second, on the other hand, asks for the restoration of certain functions of the phone by means of an OTP that is sent and which you must not, of course, give for any reason. Even some of these scammers ask you to email it and even give a fake Safaricom address!
Again, first look at the number the call is coming from. It is an 020, Nairobi area code, and that is a signal. Safaricom has not been using landline numbers for several years now, and the crooks know that it is impossible for the company itself to trace those numbers so they enjoy enough time to try to clean up whoever falls for it.

MORE SCAMS: FAKE MPESA CREDITS

Soon, the scams of a few months ago with fake Mpesa messages may also return.
The messages are a perfect reproduction of those that arrive through Mpesa, with the code of the transfer, the amount received, and the name of the person who would make the transfer, with his or her phone number. And a host of other words and codes, with the exception of not reporting the balance, but marking that the service is temporarily "locked." Shortly thereafter, the supposedly concerned party will call, apologizing, talking about a mistake and politely asking to have the money mistakenly sent back to you.

The deception is that the earlier credit would not have come from an Mpesa number, but from a private number, the same one asking for a quick refund.
So always check that an Mpesa credit is coming from Mpesa and not from a private number, and above all do not return anything to anyone. Everyone has the option of contacting the service on the fly to cancel any erroneous credit.    
Scammers are people who have accessed a database of Kenyan numbers belonging to foreigners and leverage this. 

" MPESA ODG1LIPNX1 Confirmed.You have received Ksh XXXX (can be 5 to 10 thousand shillings) from XXXX (a Kenyan name)
21/4/20 New M-PESA balance is *(LOOCKED)* Pay bills via M-PESA."

BANK APP

This time the scam comes to those who have the "apps" of the bank where you have the account.
On your cell phone you get (and it looks real, because it comes from your bank) a digital receipt of a successful transaction. A stranger has paid you money (in the case reported by a "victim" from nairobi, 140 thousand shillings). After a few minutes this person calls you, warning you that he made a mistake and asking for the money back, but not through a bank transaction, since you have the app, according to the stranger who assures you that he made a mistake, you can send it directly to your phone with Mpesa. He asks you please, because that money was for a very important cause and needs to be available immediately. Bank transfers are too long, is the excuse.
Of course, when the scammer finds a kind, helpful, and somewhat naive person, he gets the money and disappears from any network. When you ask the bank for the balance, you will find that the money that according to that message, which seems genuine, had been credited, actually never entered your account.
The bank will confirm that that message is a "fake," the scammer, evidently well-versed in messaging tricks and perhaps even credit institution terminals, has reproduced a near-perfect message.
And you have lost a large sum of money, without being able to recover it.