Police have detailed tricks robbers are using on different highways to kidnap unsuspecting businesswomen and later steal from them.
According to a report by law enforcement officers dated Wednesday, August 31, the syndicate is run by a group of youths driving high-end cars.
They ply different highways and routes from Nairobi to parts of the Mt Kenya region. The syndicate pose as good samaritans willing to offer free rides to businesswomen before kidnapping them and later robbing them.
Detectives explained that the criminals also target farmers, especially women who have delivered their products to their respective customers. Through a well-orchestrated scheme, they first kidnap their target and hold them ransom before wiping clean their accounts.
"These are just a few people who are running this scheme. They employ clever tricks targeting women. These gangs target women from here in Nyeri up to Nairobi," one senior police officer stated.
"They prey on businesswomen who are stranded on different highways. They offer them free rides," he added.
This is after a businesswoman narrated how her accounts were wiped clean in less than 30 minutes. She stated that she was approached by a well-looking man driving a top-of-the-range vehicle.
As time was running out and no public service vehicles were full, she was convinced by the man to board his car. He deceived the businesswoman that they were all travelling in the same direction.
The driver convinced the businesswoman that she looked familiar to make it feel like a hospitable gesture. After a few kilometres, the car took a different turn, and that is when she was robbed, and all her accounts emptied.
"I was stranded at a bus stage and after few minutes a white car that looked like a Voxy approached. After two minutes, the person was sitting next to the driver turned around and ordered me to surrender everything that I had," the businesswoman stated.
"They further demanded my banking and mobile banking details and wiped clean my accounts which had over Ksh140,000 of my daily sales then bungled me out of the car," she added.
Another woman raised similar concerns revealing how she lost over Ksh70,000 to the same gang.
Following the incident, police have launched an operation to flush out the gang targeting stranded women.
