Recently there seems to have been an increase in the number of mobile phone scams. Ways that people use to trick us into releasing private information or even money. While most of these are fairly elementary, some criminals are becoming smarter and if you are not careful, you could find yourself the victim of one of these crimes.
One of the more regular scams, is receiving a message from someone claiming to be “Safaricom” that says you have been sent money from an unknown person.
A few minutes later, it is often followed by a phone call made by some distraught person begging you to send it back to them. I know it seems like an obvious scam, but even I’ve fallen victim to it when I wasn’t paying attention.
If you do receive this call, tell the person to contact Safaricom to reverse the transaction or to forward the MPESA message to 456 to reverse. If you suspect them to be a fraudster, immediately report their number by sending it in a text message to 333. Reporting these numbers helps ensure that they are investigated and blocked.
Safaricom has come up with a few very simple rules and measures to ensure that your phone and more importantly, the information on your phone remains safe. Firstly, when it comes to your MPESA, the only person who should know your pin is you. Never tell it to anyone else, including anyone who claims to be from Safaricom. Pin Yako, Siri Yako!
Safaricom will never ask you to share your passwords, whether it’s for your MPESA, bank or Sim. If they do, this is most definitely a scam and you can report the number and get it blocked.
