The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has cautioned members of the public against falling prey to a new breed of scammers.
In a public notice on Tuesday, April 18, the DCI said the new fraudsters hack people’s accounts and then send random messages to friends and relatives asking for money.
“Forget about the other Tuesday and let’s talk about the Terrific one. So, scammers are recently hacking people’s accounts then send random messages to friends and relatives asking for money,” the notice reads in part.
The Directorate advises members of the public to verify the requests before sending any money.
“If your person sends that random text asking for pizza money today, hit their dial to to confirm you are sending money to the legit one,” DCI advised, adding: “Don’t let a miscreant trip tantrums to your saccharine Terrific Tuesday.”
This comes after Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo fell victim to the scam in January.
The governor said the scammers cloned his phone and started soliciting money from his contacts through SMS and WhatsApp messages.
“I urge the public to ignore messages soliciting for cash from a number through text messages and WhatsApp that is associated with my cell phone number,” Nyaribo said at the time.
“The National Police Service is currently investigating a case of sim swapping/cloning.
Please let’s stand advised accordingly.”
Forget about the other Tuesday and let’s talk about the Terrific one. So, scammers are recently hacking people’s accounts then send random messages to friends and relatives asking for money. If your person sends that random text asking for pizza 🍕 money today, hit their dial to pic.twitter.com/n5nxKSc8F7
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) April 18, 2023
