Former Hot 96 show host Professor Hamo, formally known as Herman Gakobo Kago, was the latest victim of a scamming trick targeting mobile money users.
In a video that made rounds on social media on Sunday, the comedian recorded his entire conversation with the conman identified as Omari.
He played along but was not planning to send the money.
The trick that the fraudster attempted to apply on Prof Hamo involves editing a mobile money received message complete with a code and specified amount before sending it to potential victims.
In Hamo's case, the scammer claimed to have sent the former Ksh8,850 claiming that he had channeled the money to the wrong number.
Shortly after, he called the comedian asking him to refund the money arguing that his attempts to reach the telecommunications company were futile.
"Refund my money. You can send me Ksh8,300 and keep Ksh500," demanded Omari.
Hamo, who remained courteous and played along during the entire phone call, insisted that he would not send the money.
"He will wait for long. Maybe he will call back," the comedian speculated.
Mobile money scammers have, for years now, constantly targeted over 38.4 million users using the ubiquitous service.
In November, the scammers targeted restaurants and nightclubs with edited messages creating an illusion that a bill had already been paid.
Kenyans.co.ke has learnt that the scammers download an illegal app said to be available on Google Play Store, which they use to manipulate mobile money messages.
The conmen copy their last mobile money message and paste it onto the illegal mobile application.
The app then enables them to edit the details, including the code and the specific amount.
It is then prompted to resend the message to the mobile money account holder's phone to dupe the shop owners.
The conmen, who target establishments where waiters and attendants do not have access to mobile money phones that handle funds, then show the attendants the message to prove that the bill has been cleared.
