How To Identify Loan Scammers

I never thought I would one day write something about loan scammers.I thought to Kenyans, it was a too familiar topic to cover as it will look like a repeat of what most online forum discussions constitute of. To my amazement, I was wrong.


Yesterday, I got a call from one lady ,a victim of the fake loan givers and I felt so bad.The woman lost ksh270 in form of registration fees and she was really in dire need of the loan.I then realised she might not be alone and more may be victimised.That's why today I came up with 'how to identify loan scammers in Kenya' just to save the rest.

Loan Scammers

Fake lenders have some common characteristics which they possess. Some legimate lenders might posses one of the characteristics but never all.Loan Scammers have all of the characteristics.

• Scammers are never concerned with how the borrower will repay the loan.They never bother about credit scores or collateral while claiming to give out loans.
• Most fake loan givers are not registered. Their businesses are not registered with county or national governments.They don't have their own registered Paybill numbers.
• Paying fees for borrowing a loan can be a normal thing with legitimate lenders but its always deducted from the loan acquired. Scammers ask for fees before giving out loans.
• Fake loan providers lack a physical address and or contacts.Their phone numbers are ever offline.They don't have official emails or websites .
• Scammers put too much pressure on the borrower to take the offer.

Recent Scenario

I want to show you a very common scenario on how the scammers get money from Kenyans and its through asking for registration fees.Fake lenders know that legitimate loan companies have Paybill numbers.They therefore ask loan applicants to send fees to bank Paybill numbers and their bank account numbers  in this format;

• Lipa na Mpesa
• Paybill number (here they give you their bank's Paybill number for example 522 522 for KCB)
• Enter Account number (here they give you their bank account number for example 000000012345678)

When you enter the amount of registration fees needed and your Mpesa PIN and click send or OK your money gets deposited into that scammers bank account.

I know fake loan providers can use other ways to con Kenyans,but during this Mpesa era,mobile money remains the most common way they use and its why I had to elaborate it above.

What to do:

Before sending any fees to a suspicious lender,confirm the owner of the Paybill number from http://www.safaricom.co.ke/paybills by entering the number on the search space and clicking search button
If you get the Paybill number owner to be a bank,be cautious or better stop from there.True lenders have their own registered paybill numbers.

Disputing Scammers

If you already sent the money before reading this post to the given Paybill number and account number,just call the bank to report the scammers bank account before proceeding to the police.

Pleas do share to save a friend.Thanks

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