The number of individuals impersonating detectives in the country has risen to over 300 as of August 2024.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Monday, August 12, raised an alarm of an increasing number of fraudsters posing as its detectives who are conning unsuspecting Kenyans of their hard-earned cash.
In 2024 alone, the EACC Commission noted that it encountered over 300 cases of fake detectives impersonating EACC officers or other law enforcement agencies on official duty investigating them.
Some imposters, especially in Kakamega, Bungoma, and Busia counties, have established supposedly fake EACC offices and offering EACC services, EACC Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi revealed.
For instance, in Busia, an entity by the name Anti-Corruption Investigations Agency has allegedly been receiving money from the public to address corruption-related conflicts and even puts caveats on land.
Some of the imposters issue fake EACC Integrity Clearance for candidates seeking employment at a fee, a service ordinarily offered by the Commission free of charge.
The EACC Commission is surprised at the high level of readiness with which most Kenyans are willing to bribe their way out of perceived trouble.
Other fake detectives carry out investigations, arrests, and search operations on their targets then demand huge bribes promising to skew the investigations in their favour or waive potential criminal charges.
Others invade people’s business premises claiming that they are inspecting compliance with various licensing requirements or counterfeit goods.
“The imposters have mainly been targeting state officers in the national government, county officials, school principals and national government administration officers and private business operators, with many having lost millions of shillings,” EACC confirmed.
For school principals, the imposters focus on allegations of illegal fee charges, procurement, and financial management issues.
In the counties, the imposters target officials working in revenue collection while for the National Government administration officers, the fraudsters focus on alleged corruption.
Kenyans who encounter suspicious persons should notify EACC and avoid succumbing to the fraudulent traps. Before falling prey to these fraudsters, the general public is encouraged to contact EACC and verify the authenticity of persons claiming to be its officers.
Going by the recent trends, emerging pattern shows that most victims are quick to initiate settlement with the imposters leading to extortion of huge sums of money. This is an indication that some of the persons targeted by the imposters are involved in corruption or other wrongdoing.
Last month, EACC arrested a police officer attached to Muthangari Police Station and four other imposters who were caught raiding a Kitui County Official's home.
