Kenyans have been warned of a fraudulent gas cylinder business targetting unsuspecting online users.
In a statement released by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), a serial online fraudster has been conning clients through a non-existing shop purporting to sell gas cylinders at an average price of Ksh2,250.
The business also purported to attract clients looking to start the LPG Gas Retail business with a starting capital of Ksh50,000.
The serial scammer made away with various dealings as he used different pseudonyms to scam his customers.
The police used an instance where an unsuspecting Lang'ata resident fell victim to the scam and ended up buying fictional gas cylinders. The Nairobi resident was seeking a lucrative venture to invest in and came across the scammers dubbed Heritage Gas Wholesalers.
"It was in November last year while he was shopping online for a place to source the cylinders when he came across a Facebook page advertising the exact business."
"The page which goes by the name Heritage Gas Wholesalers had information detailing that the business was dealing with gas cylinders, with several brands of cooking gas displayed. The page also had a contact number and the contact person," DCI stated.
According to the DCI, the victim reportedly double-checked the page to ascertain its validity before making a purchase.
"Contented with the assurance by the fraudster, the would-be victim went ahead and placed an order of 60 gas cylinders at a total cost of Ksh354,000," the DCI noted.
The crafty salesman sent the quotation and requested him to pay Ksh118,000 as a commitment fee, with the rest to be paid upon delivery of the cylinders.
However, after negotiations, they settled on a Ksh100,000 fee since he was buying in bulk.
In December 2021, the victim transferred the amount via mobile money transactions to the con's number,
As days passed by, the Lang'ata resident sensed foul play after the mobile number failed to go through. Realising that he had been duped, the complainant reported the matter at Lang'ata police station.
"Detectives from DCI Lang’ata, augmented by sleuths drawn from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau-CRIB, applied detailed forensic analysis at the DCI National Forensic Laboratory and traced the suspect who was immediately arrested within Thika Township," the police stated.
The suspect will face multiple charges among them conspiracy to defraud, obtaining money by false pretence and being in unlawful possession of and using fake identification.
A recent survey titled 'The 2021 Economy survey' by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) revealed that the number of online scams rose from 51 in 2019 to 270 in 2020- indicating a quintuple increment in a period of 12 months.
