Thinking of starting a Safaricom M-Pesa business? Be very careful. This is how you will loose money
Are you thinking of starting a Safaricom M-Pesa money transfer business? May be you should think again. Some people have taken their frustrations to social media after making huge loses in their M-Pesa kiosks. Most of the loses are due to theft; from con men and Safaricom agents and employees (allegedly)
If you are a proud owner of an M-Pesa kiosk/s then these experiences might not be new to you. Same case with the girls who are employed at those M-Pesa kiosks.
The experiences narrated below were posted by people who have incurred huge loses and neither the police or Safaricom are willing to help them. You can also share your experience on the comments section below
If you are a con man (whether active or aspiring), don’t use these tricks on innocent m-pesa employees.. Remember the proverbial 40 days??
Case 1.
Those who are employed as m-pesa attendants, m-pesa owners and MOSTLY m-pesa administrators will understand me. I was once employed at an m-pesa business- you all know the peanut salary they offer.
In the fisrt 2 months I had lost Sh 5,000. I thought i was careless, little did i know that was the beginning of my troubles. My employer trusted me so much that he could only come check balance like once a month so i had enough time to replace that money before he realized.
I wish I had run at that point. I told a friend who worked at another m-pesa and she told me to be careful, though its ‘normal’ to loose money when working at an m-pesa busines. Silly me, I stayed without knowing at one point I wou ld spend a few nights at Industrial Area remand prison
In first week of June 2013 I lost Sh 23,000. I couldn’t believe it. I told no one and went for drinks since I was very stressed. The next day, I tried to figure out how I lost the money but It was not making sense at all. I dint tell my boss knowing how he would react- That was the longest day I’ve ever had.
In the evening, I called my then boyfriend and toold him I would rather work and recover that money than go to jail. He promised to assist me. That month I tried very hard to save- I used to skip lunch and save taxi money that I was given by my boss. The M-pesa business was inside a club so I used to work till late and with the tips I got the Sh23,000.
But saitan was not done with me! Now I had lost another Sh52,000. I asked for statements from Safaricom which dint help. I still told no one. I used to eat and laugh with my boss all the time, and assured him that his business was doing great.
To cut my long story short by end of that year I couldn’t take it and told a few trusted friends. I borrowed money but no one was willing to give me. My biggest mistake was I never told my boss. So came January I took my tinny self to the police to report the issue. They called my boss and I was left in the cells. I called everyone. A man in love who I had just met was the first to arrive then my 2 uncles. Mum was in shags and dad at work. They tried to negotiate but I could not be released without Sh 50,000. They all went to negotiate with my boss but he could hear non of it- he even called me a thief. My new boyfriend couldn’t stand seeing me spend another night in cell. So he bailed me out with Sh 15,000
Now I was to look for money and pay Sh 134,000. Up to this day, I don’t know how it got to those 6 figures. My boss harassed me and I opted to go to court and argue my case. Up to now, the hearing of my case has never been held and I even fled from Nairobi due to threats from my boss. Langata women’s prison is full of young girls who are former employees of M-Pesa shops- they were conned and could not get the money to refund to their bosses.
I was so desperate that at one point I looked for a witch doctor but my dad advised not to go that route. I hear m-pesa admins know what happens and it’s a very common thing. I went to Safaricom but they said that there’s nothing much they can do
Case 2
A random guy was sent those fake m-pesa messages then was called and asked to reverse. Since he did not understand what the guys were saying he was told to go to the nearest mpesa. Thats when he went to my shop. The guys called again and asked to talk to the m-pesa lady. They asked her to assist the guy but first to give some info.
So she was asked the till number akasema, was asked why she had little cash in her float- which was true and she said that she had cash in hand. She was told to go to the next m-pesa shop and load all that cash in her her phone then transfer it to the till then they would call back. She did as was asked and immediately she was called again and given some numbers to dial on the till phone then to wait for a few minutes. Immediately she got a text message of ZERO balance…. all the money was gone. 50,000/- took me about 4 days to understand that story.
Case 3
I thought I had trained my girl Mitchell well “do not dial any numbers on the m-pesa till, always counter check if the cash is genuine, do not let strangers in the shop”- fool proof. Little did I know that the thieves were smarter than that
So it’s a Wednesday morning, a Kikuyu woman complete with an accent comes to my girl and is like “can your boss allow me to keep some phone accessories here so that you can sell them for me at a commission?” My girl said she was not sure if I ‘d agree but she promised that she would ask me.
So the lady left and said she would be back after 30minutes. So, my girl sends me a ‘please call me’ and I call her immediately. I listened to the story and told her to tell the woman to come back in the evening when am at the shop. So after 30minutes the woman comes and asks what I have said and Mitchell tells her to come back in the evening. The woman says she’s going back to Nairobi and tells my girl to give her my phone number. So Mitchell asks me if its ok and i say, “sawa mpee number”. So she writes on a paper – name and number and off she goes
Almost an hour later a man comes in with a sim card and tells Mitchell that he is expecting some money from a friend but his phone is broken- so he borrows her phone so that he can check whether the money has been sent- Sounds genuine. So Mitchell removes her sim card and gives the man her phone, he punches some buttons and says the money has not been sent, so he will go to a kinyozi and come back after a few minutes. All is ok.
An hour passes and she gets a text message, from me “tuma 15,000/- to this number then uniambie ni jina gani” So Mitchell sends the money to that number and sends ‘me’ the name ‘I’ say sawa. 10 mins later, send 20,000/- to yet another number aseme jina ni gani- she sends. Another 5 mins or so send 25000/- to this number she sends…so by now she is left with 12000 in cash…with some hundreds in float. The guy goes again “send 30000/- “ so she says “Ai Sandra kwani bado niko na hiyo pesa?” The guy says “una ngapi?” .ati “12000 na ni cash”…he texts back “weka kwa simu yako uitume” so she asks “sasa nitafanya kazi vipi”…he texts back and tells my girl to send the money, close the shop and go home. She started panicking and called me. The sender did not pick and he texted back telling her to stop wasting time and just send the money. So, as she is still thinking the landlord passed near the shop and my girl told him “leo sijui Sandra anajifanya aje…ameniweka nikatuma pesa yote and she is telling me to send ya mwisho then nifunge…nikicall hashiki”. Landlord was Omondi. So he calls and i pick then he is like “mbona hushiki simu za Mitchell” …my heart dropped
I called her immediately and when she heard my voice she started crying and i instantly knew there was trouble. So i am like “can you talk?” and she asks me “why are you calling me with a strange number”. I drove to the shop in record time of 5mins. And yes, the cash was gone, instantly was crying and I couldn’t understand a thing she was saying. That night I thought about the whole thing on my own. The following morning I went to the shop and calmly asked her what happened. That’s how I connected the dots! The first woman took my name and number and gave them to the man, the man took my girl’s phone and saved a different number using my name on her phone. So that’s why she was getting the messages from ‘me’. I told her to go home and paid her for the month with the Sh 12,000 that was not stolen. I immediately moved my stuff from that shop, and that was the end of me and M-Pesa business
Case 4
I had an m-pesa sometime back and it gave me ulcers and enough stress. One day 3 guys came and withdrew Sh 20,000, befriended me and asked for my number in case they want to withdraw huge amounts of money. So, the next day one of the guys- John macho nne, called me and told me that his friend will drop some ‘flower chemicals’ in my shop and I should keep them safely. Then, a new guy – Samuel, came with two cartons. I took them and Samuel left.
After an hour john called and told me that he is busy so he will send his customer to come n collect the cartons and leave 80k with me. So, his ‘customer’ came to my shop, riding an expensive car, gave me the money and collected the cartons. He told me how the ‘flower chemical business’ was lucrative. Later i mpesad john his cash. After 2 days John called again and this time he sent me Sh 50,000 to pay his supplier and add my 70k (he would refund). Immediately John’s customer called and said that he is in Naivasha and he’s coming to pick the money. So, I gave him my 70k and the 50k that John had sent. After he left all their phones went mteja- I knew I had been conned, but I never told anyone.
I acted normal till evening. By good luck, I got Samuel the supplier on phone I told him I was interested in the ‘flower chemical’ business, and I can also get some serious orders. So, he should come by my shop on Monday morning and we talk business. He came and I told him to enter inside the shop so that I can pay him. I took the m-pesa phone and gave him to put his number. Then I told him to wait I order tea for him. I walked out and called the police who responded in 3minutes. He sensed danger and sprinted from my shop. People chase after him, akashikwa akapelekwa polisi n guess what? John is the one who sent a lady to bring back my money…….to God be the glory.
