Many people in Kenya pay rent using mobile money. Around the end of the month, I usually receive messages such as the ones shown, pretending to be from my landlord, and asking me to pay my rent to a new account. I’m sure these messages are sent to many phone numbers, hoping that some will fall for the trick.
The interesting thing is that these messages nowadays provide bank details – a known banking institution and an account number, meaning that the holder of the account can be identified.
So I wonder, is it that the people who fall for these tricks don’t report them to the authorities? Or do they report and nothing gets done? Or do the crooks simply open new accounts? Or are the authorities in on it? Or are there new crooks joining the ‘industry’ all the time? Do the banks know that these accounts are used for fraudulent activity? So many questions.