By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- When I shared what I had gone through with my friends in Githurai, they told me. Ndonga, chances were high that the driver and conductor knew these criminals. In some matatus, the conductors will not allow them to board.
- They continued. These criminals normally use different tricks. Some pretend that they were vomiting and do this after stealing. The idea is to cause confusion and divert the attention. This will help them to escape.
- Back to my fate, in 30 minutes or so, the thief [s] had stolen all my money in M-Pesa account and used the line to borrow money from Fuliza, M-Shwari and KCB.
The other day my phone was stolen and the incident happened when I was disembarking from a mini-bus plying town and Githurai [44] at the new Total Petrol station. A person, who was in front of me fall back while at the stairs and pretended that he had suffered a muscle pull. Please, please help me. Don’t let me fall down, he said as he held one of my leg firmly and started screaming.
Personally I had suffered muscle pulls before and so I knew the pain that comes with it. As a Good Samaritan, I opted to help him.
As this continued, a ‘passenger’ who was behind us shouted. We want to disembark. Tell that man to stop joking. This prompted me to ask him. Have you regained your strength? He said yes with a low tone and stepped out. I never saw him again.
After some seconds, I checked my phone which I had put on my shirt pocket. It was not there. This is time I came to my sense that this was a thief and person shouting behind could have been part of the gang.
The mini-bus was now turning back to town. My first reaction was to tell the conductor. Stop, stop! I want to check whether my phone is there. The driver was in so much hurry. He kept telling the conductor: Let us go, let us go! In fact, I was forced to step out of matatu as it was moving.
When I shared what I had gone through with my friends in Githurai, they told me. Ndonga, chances were high that the driver and conductor knew these criminals. In some matatus, the conductors will not allow them to board.
They continued. These criminals normally use different tricks. Some pretend that they were vomiting and do this after stealing. The idea is to cause confusion and divert the attention. This will help them to escape.
Back to my fate, in 30 minutes or so, the thief [s] had stolen all my money in M-Pesa account and used the line to borrow money from Fuliza, M-Shwari and KCB.
One may ask. How did they access my PIN? Again, if the phone had screen pattern, how did they remove it? For the pattern, I don’t know how they did it.
But for the PIN, I had taken a photo of my ID and saved it in my phone’s gallery. Besides, the screen had my photo. So I suspect they used my ID number to access my Mpesa account.
In many instances when a phone is stolen, most victims share a common thread. My phone was switched off immediately.
In my case, things were different. The thieves did not switch off my phone. When I asked a friend of mine to call the number moments after the incident, it was picked and the person told me. I had just collected your phone and the screen is not visible because it had broken down.
I’m here in Roysambu. What about you? I asked him. I’m in Githurai 44 stage. Can I come for my phone? No, don’t come. I have a friend who is coming from AllSopps to deliver a parcel at Jacaranda Estate. He is on his way here. I will give him your phone to bring it over to you in Githurai.
He will be on a motorbike. Just wait for 10 minutes. You will give him Sh200 or Sh250 as a show of appreciation.
I treated this with suspicion and some of my friends shared the same sentiments. As I waited, I started calling the Safaricom line, 100. I wan wanted them to block my line.
First, it took more than 15 minutes without being picked and my friend got impatient and left. I sought help from another one and it took more than 10 minutes before it was picked. So it took more than 25 minutes for Safaricom to respond to my distress call.
I would not want to see another Kenyan go through this. Safaricom has a duty to protect its customers. So my unsolicited advice to its management is. Please launch a new line to handle distress calls. Besides, the company should make it difficult for someone to change the PIN with ease. In my case, I suspect the thieves changed my PIN.
I reported this matter at Kasarani Police Station [OB No 40/27/09/2022]Â
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a Writer and Political Analyst based in Nairobi
