Defrauders targeting job seekers in Kenya have fabricated a high tech scheme to swindle victims in the pretext of a need for a CRB status check-up, a precondition in some job interviews.
The unscrupulous individuals have been evolving over the years, constantly looking out for ways to carry out their devious schemes.
They easily masquerade on the internet as the legitimate entities, thereby duping innocent Kenyans into sending money, mostly through mobile money services.
Unsuspecting victims usually fall prey to this trap, as they have been convinced that its a mandatory step towards advancement to the next stage of the interview process.
Legitimizing their status involves intricate details eg registering a custom domain name such as nameofcompany.co.ke in most cases, similar to the name of the bogus company to be used. This is so as to secure an email address that looks official such as info@nameofcompany.co.ke.
Majority of the population places a high level of trust when a company has a customized email address.
They then set up a decent website which is published on the custom domain with content written to describe nonexistent services and made up office locations.
The address is normally named vaguely; for example, the name of a popular road like Riverside Drive, but curiously, the actual building or office number is rarely indicated.
Finally, they post jobs on popular job listing sites.
Upon submission of ones’ application, the scammers then send out an email with an attachment of what is allegedly a form from their designated credit reference bureau.
We are in possession of such a mail shared below;
