The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has urged business holders in the coastal region to be vigilant and on the lookout for intruders who purport to come from the bureau.
Speaking in Mombasa on Thursday, April 17, an official from KEBS noted that the individuals have been making the rounds in the region, extorting money from innocent Kenyans, especially those running small businesses.
The KEBS official noted that this behaviour has significantly tarnished the reputation of the bureau and has also raised integrity concerns.
"The issue of imposters has been a key challenge because they are going around saying that they are from the bureau, and to be honest, they are not from KEBS."
"These people have been going around outlets in the region and claiming that a certain product has expired, which triggers panic in the seller and brings issues of integrity," he said.
KEBS has urged Kenyans to always demand the national ID numbers and the work ID number of any individuals who show up in their business premises claiming to be from KEBS and share the details with the bureau to verify the legitimacy of the officer.
"There is a way that one can know that an individual is a worker from KEBS. After an officer has introduced himself, he should share his or her ID and work ID numbers so that the business owner can verify," he stated.
The warning from KEBS comes a week after the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK), in a statement on Thursday, April 10, also warned Kenyans against scammers claiming to be from the council who are offering fake job positions.
NCK noted that there has been an increased rate of scammers offering county office jobs and board positions to stakeholders, especially to nursing and midwifery students.
The council urged Kenyans receiving such calls to contact the council and forward the mobile number of the scammer to NCK's email for verification.
Furthermore, the council urged stakeholders to also report such cases to a police station, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), or the graft commission, EACC.
"It has been brought to our attention that various stakeholders have received calls from an individual purporting to be from NCK and that they are offering employment opportunities at the county offices and board positions," it stated.
"Please pay no heed to such fraudulent calls. These callers are in no way associated with NCK," it added.
