A Nairobi resident found himself on the painful end of an elaborate scam that saw him lose Ksh40,000.
Footage has since emerged of the inconsolable victim sprawled out on the busy road next to the railways bus terminal wailing and sobbing.
Passers-by converged around him as he cried while periodically looking at a small phone he was clenching on his right palm.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, an eyewitness narrated the events that left the Nairobi resident weeping uncontrollably on the road.
The man in the video was lured into participating in the infamous scratch-to-win deal.
He was heading to work when the possibility of bagging a new smartphone and tablets seemed too good to pass up.
A group of people had surrounded a van branded with pictures of all types of smart gadgets under the facade of representing a local telco company. The victim was hooked from this point onwards.
He went on to participate in the 'scratch-to-win' promotion and to his great surprise, he won 2 tablets, 2 phones, bluetooth earphones, a charger and a USB reader.
However, to access each of these prizes, he was required to part with some money. Each item drained his personal account to the tune of Ksh36,000.
However, with his mega-haul of winnings, he thought it was a fair trade as the items looked worth much more, he even gave the scammers a Ksh 4,000 tip as they parted ways.
His world came crashing down when he opened the expensive-looking boxes only to find cheap knock-off electronics estimated to be worth Ksh 4,000 in total.
He tried to retrace his steps ad claim his money but the scratch-to-win troop had already shifted to another location.
None of the items he 'won' actually worked, which was what resulted in him falling in the streets while crying over his loss.
The scammers are known to park their cars in areas where they can lure people either heading to work or are already going about their businesses (busy streets).
The crowd around the vehicle usually pose as ‘sales agents’ but ideally are tasked with doing the dirty work of luring their unsuspecting victims by peddling scratch cards which they explain, to whoever cares to listen, come with various ‘free’ prizes.
But there is always a catch. Once the prize ‘won’ has been revealed, the ‘winner’ is required to pay a small fee before being taken to the vehicle to redeem it.
And that’s when you’ll get conned. If you are lucky enough you’ll end up with a fake product whose value is much lower than the cash you’ve paid.
But in most cases you’ll be taken round in circles as the sales agent who first engaged you sneaks away into the crowd.
The favourite spots where these scammers operate include Ambassadeur Hotel’s taxi yard, the corner off Latema Road and Tom Mboya Street, outside Odeon Cinema and also at Moi Avenue’s Railways Roundabout.
Watch the latest victim of the Scratch to win scam below:
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