Gospel singer and TV host, Kambua Mathu took to social media to expose a new Covid-19 scam being used to swindle Kenyans.
Fraudsters bring back old scams with new tricks and always find creative ways to reinvent themselves to stay relevant in the game.
With the on-going Coronavirus pandemic that has swept the world, con artists have seen an opportunity in the situation to mint out money.
Kambua was a target of the new online scam where she was asked to send a refundable sum of Ksh. 30,000 to attend a World Health Organization conference in South Africa to discuss the pandemic.
The award-winning gospel singer-songwriter on Thursday, April 3, posted screenshots of the email sent to her and an M-Pesa transaction she tried to send to the con in order to expose the name of the fraudster.
The screenshots were accompanied with the caption, "ION (In Other News) I have been selected to help save Africa from Corona, Coronaaaaa umetuchosha."
The email sent to her read, "The WHO is holding a conference in South Africa on 18th of April 2020 to dialogue on the way forward for African countries before the virus becomes uncontrollable.
"You are among the 10 influential people in Kenya chosen to attend the Conference. Flight and accommodation will be catered for.
"A deposit of $300 to our Kenyan Ambassador of WHO mobile no +254701117319 to secure your spot which is refunded back on the 19th of April 2020.
"Once sent you will receive a confidential code that is strictly yours alone to be used at JKIA on 19th of April. Any inquiries email pinedad100@yahoo.com.
"Secure your spot to be among the few Africans that save Africa from Covid-19."
To debunk the email, there are a couple of issues not right about it like travelling to South Africa that is currently under lockdown.
Kenya does not allow international passenger planes to leave or jet into the country while the location of the conference is also not provided.
The email provided for inquires is a personal one rather than an official WHO email, the name of the conference is also not provided.
All major conferences taking place around the world are currently being held online rather than taking place physically.
This joins the many scams like being sent an M-Pesa transaction message by a personal number and later on getting a call or message asking you to send the money back claiming it was a wrong transaction.
Another popular scam is being asked to send money to a school teacher after claims that your child's school box has been broken into.
