This happened to my nice last week.

She got an SMS saying that she had won sh100k in the "Safricom-na-Equity" promotion. The message ended with a warning: "DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY"

She ignored it and a few minutes later it came again...and again...and again.....

So finally, she called the sender and he explained that she had won the 100k and the money would be sent to her M-PESA account.

To get the money, she was told to go to her M-PESA and go to ATM withdrawal; then enter agent number 286286 and her PIN. In return, M-PESA with send her an authorisation code which she was to send to the guy.

The girl did exactly that and sent them the auth code!

A few minutes later, she got an SMS from M-PESA saying the she did not have enough funds to complete the transaction...

She call the guys and they said she needs "a good balance" to access the 100k..... they suggested she adds 5k, but she said she can only get 200 bob. "Sawa, weka hiyo halafu tuta jaribu"

She ran to M-PESA kiosk and loaded sh200 and waited.

Then a message came in from M-PESA: "You have withdrawn Sh200 from EQTY Bank ATM... your balance is now..."

She cried....and I laughed when she told me the story!

==========

You must give credit to these conmen. They know that most people have never withdrawn M-PESA cash from the ATM so they don't know the procedure.... And telling you not to send any money... and to add cash to YOUR M-PESA account...

Obviously; there is a loophole in the ATM withdrawal process. Perhaps SCOM should add a requirement to enter you M-PESA PIN in the ATM before withdrawing.

Mukiha,
so how did the guys get the 200 bob from ur niece? Yes she received the MPESA message but where did the monry go? were they waiting in an equity ATM somewhere and the money popped out ama...

The authorisation code works for all ATMs belonging to that particular provider e.g Pesapoint or Equity. If you have the authorisation code and you know the phone number of the source you will get the cash from any equity ATM for this case.

But how did the buggers get the authorization code from mukihas niece????? something still doesnt add up..
Mukiha fafanua..

Eish! Some Kenyans are just too gullible.

That was a not so good a nice move not to load accouunt with 5k. she would have learn't her lesson never to open up to con thieves. I received a call from the same thugs saying that I had won 100k on furahi na safaricom. I asked them why they were calling from airtel line which they replied that they were in conjunction with Ekwete Bank. i asked them why they are not using 0729 333 333 to call the winners. Unfortunately they hang up thereafter.I would have told them they could as well use the money they have so far collected to ...........................

The mobile no. was 0789******

I played along with one 'safcom customer care manager'
Made him sweat a lil with maswali while pretending to be gullible.
Until his english reached a dead end and swa took over!
He went like 'lakini sasa madam, situongee kiswahili kwa maana wewe ni customer!!'
Imagine a whole 'manager!' nkt.'

When will it end?(the con game)

There is a common one that goes like:
"uncle mtoto ameumwa na nyoka.... tafadhali nitumie pesa mia mbili niite bodaboda tumkimbize hosi...."

I think the reason why they may get into problems in doing that is because, as much as Mpesa is a mode of cash transfer its also a mode of payment for goods and services rendered. For example if you were to pay for an item using mpesa you can easily then cal safcom and say you sent cash to the wrong account thereby relieving the seller of his cash and goods/services