Police in Embu are investigating claims that a secondary school bursar was conned of sh5,600 by a man claiming to be Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko.
Mr Enos Njeru, a school bursar Kangaru Girls High School, sent the money as processing fee for a logbook of a motorcycle we was to get from the philanthropic senator.
After sending the money on Monday afternoon, the person who claimed to be Senator Sonko’s aide asked Mr Njeru to send an extra Sh7,850 to process the insurance fee for the motorbike before it could be sent to him.
It is then that the school bursar, who had borrowed the money from a friend so as not to lose the chance, smelled a rat and sought to withdraw from the deal.
“He told me that the ‘Senator’ had paid Sh5,000 for the insurance and I was supposed to pay a balance of Sh7,850 to show my commitment,” Mr Njeru said.
TRUE DEAL
He said he believed the deal was true since he had previously seen the Nairobi Senator handing out motorbikes.
When he called the mobile service provider, a dejected Mr Njeru learnt that the man, whose account went by the name Michael Kioko (0727667964), had already withdrawn the money.
When he tried calling the number through mobile app True Caller, the name ‘Mike Sonko’ appeared.
Senator Sonko has constantly warned people against con men who use his name.
Mr Njeru said he met the scammer via Facebook and the two had been friends for some time and had even struck a conversation on Monday morning.
“I immediately received a message informing me that I was the lucky winner of a brand new motorcycle. We have been friends for long and all this time I’ve been thinking it is the Senator. I posted on his inbox, giving him my phone number and name and asked him to call me,” he told reporters outside Embu police station.
And as Mr Njeru was at the police station, the caller made another call urging him to immediately send the money or lose the deal altogether.
He appealed to Safaricom to help him recover his money.
“They said they cannot divulge people’s (transaction) information but I believe many people must have complained about the phone number.”
FEELING FOOLISH
He said the swindle left him feeling foolish, but said it should be an eye opener to people who wish to get easy things.
“I feel so low for losing the money so easily. Safaricom should withhold people’s money whenever such complaints are made. They should not only be happy when they see many transactions but ensure they are right,” appealed Mr Njeru.
Embu West police boss Francis Sang’ confirmed that they had received the complaint and were already probing it.
