How Nakuru M-Pesa agent lost Sh 20,000 in well-calculated fake notes scam

James Mwangi, can chuckle about his ordeal today, but just five months ago, it was no laughing matter!

James who has an M-Pesa and cybershop along the busy Kenyatta Avenue has been in the mobile money transfer agent business for over five years.

In this half a decade, he has always been keen not to make any mistakes especially when it comes to carrying out mobile money transfers. 

Due to his attention to detail, he never imagined anyone could ever pull a first one on him. 

On this fateful day, James says he had just bought a new set of computer monitors and therefore was in the process of restocking while serving customers. 

“A customer came in and said that he wanted to deposit Sh. 20,000 into his MPESA account and so he gave me the notes. As always, the first thing I would do is to make sure the notes are not fake. I therefore took each note, one by one and put them under the fluorescent UV light just to confirm they were legit,” he says. 

James continues, “As soon as I was done, the customer requested for his money back and stepped out of the shop seemingly to pick a call. I went back to organize the monitors and after a few minutes, he came back, this time with Sh. 20,500.”

“He then said he wanted to deposit the money. So, I knew I had already checked the first Sh. 20,000 so I just confirmed the Sh. 500 which was also real and went ahead to deposit the money.” 

James narrates how he went back to talk to the supplier who had brought the monitors and after discussing payment, he reached into the cash box to retrieve the Sh.20,000 and top it off with some Sh. 30,000 so that he could pay the needed Sh. 50,000.

“Upon retrieving the money, I immediately noticed that the texture was very strange. Before I could confirm my worst fears, I knew the notes were fake. Surprisingly only the sh.500 was real.” 

James says he remembers calling his wife to ask for Sh. 20,000 to pay the supplier as the client was long gone.

It was only weeks later that James learnt he had been a victim of a common trick that was being carried out by notorious street gangs in Nakuru, frustrating mobile money transfer agents. 

“Nakuambia kiliniramba weeh, I never pictured myself in such a situation, but I learnt my lesson,” he concludes.