For years, adapting to fast-paced Nairobi life laced with conmen on every corner has been a tough affair for most people.
It has long been established that the innocent people from the village seeking greener pastures in the city have to be baptised by fire.
Most items targeted by the conmen in the line of city hustle revolves around phones and money with some occasionally losing clothing and other electronics.
Here are five tricks conmen use to exploit their victims.
1. Incessant calls
This trick involves people who are well known to their victims and often make up excuses such as having gone for a day without a meal.
According to the experience of this reporter, it starts with an innocent request of a loan that they are hellbent to pay on time before they go mute.
After a month, they resurface with a heartfelt tale of how they have been missing meals and their lives are experiencing a rocky time.
In their subsequent requests, they are likely to ask for a smaller amount with promise to repay it back. After gauging if you can loan them, they create a habit of asking for more money without repayments.
When they are blocked by victims, the conmen often resurface with new phone numbers.
2. Fake phones
In a rather famous trick, most Nairobians have been conned out of their hard-earned cash with a promise of being sold legitimate phones on the street.
A colleague narrated that he had gone to Nairobi Central Business District to purchase a mobile phone before he got approached for a juicy deal with massive discount.
The seller proceeded to show him how wonderful the phone worked and he was convinced that he had landed a good bargain.
When he paid for the phone, however, he discovered that there was a switch and he had been sold a mobile casing whose interior contained mud. The briefcase shop had long vanished.
3. Mitumba trick in Gikomba
In an effort to triple their sales, Mitumba traders have mastered the bad art of displaying designer clothes but parking rags for their customers.
While sampling the clothing products, customers are exposed to designer apparel but many have complained that after making the purchase, the traders proceed to pack those of poor quality.
One buyer once told this writer that he sampled a good innerwear to gift her grandmother but when she got home, she found a rag nicely wrapped as the product.
4. Dropping envelopes
Nairobi conmen are constantly innovating their trade with the worst yet including them in groups of at least five people.
A friend, who preferred to be identified as Dalton, told Kenyans.co.ke that he lost his Ksh13,000 phone to the conmen.
It started when one of the gang members dropped an envelop containing Ksh15,000. The brother picked it up but before he could even glance at it, the other members confronted him asking him to share.
They took him to a dingy pavement where they proceeded to rob him of his phone and other valuables.
5. Duo of old and Young Conmen
In this trick, a duo of an old person and a young person often hangs out near the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC).
They two chat up their victims to catch up on current affairs including politics in an attempt to instill trust between the parties.
At some point, one of the two gives the victim their wallets full of cash to carry as they discuss trust issues. Later, they demand their victims offer them their wallet and phones before they disappear.
