A Facebook user has shared details of how an M-Pesa agent in Kapsabet allegedly lost Sh243,000 within five minutes after falling victim to a new trick involving a customer who appeared to be making a legitimate cash deposit.
The incident, shared on the Tujengane Business Ideas Facebook Group, has sparked a warning to M-Pesa agents and other mobile money operators to exercise caution when handling customers.
According to the account shared on the platform, the man walked into the agent’s shop and asked to deposit Sh243,000 into his M-Pesa account.
The agent, however, had only Sh30,000 in her float and had to source an additional Sh213,000 from another agent to complete the transaction.
After receiving the Sh243,000 from the customer, the agent counted and confirmed the cash before beginning the transaction. She entered the customer’s identification and mobile phone details and attempted to send the money.
The first attempt reportedly failed after the agent entered an incorrect number. Subsequent attempts using details provided by the customer also failed.
After several unsuccessful attempts and without receiving a confirmation message from Safaricom, the customer allegedly asked for his money back.
The agent reportedly refunded the full Sh243,000, allowing the man to leave the shop.
It was only after the customer had left that the agent checked her M-Pesa balance and discovered that she had been left with just Sh58.
A subsequent call to customer care allegedly revealed that the money had been withdrawn about five minutes earlier.
The account has raised questions about how the transaction could have been completed without the agent receiving a successful transaction notification.
How the alleged trick works
One of the comments responding to the Facebook post offered a possible explanation of how the fraud may have been carried out.
The commenter alleged that the customer, after several failed attempts, asked to use the agent’s M-Pesa phone to enter his own number.
According to the explanation, the customer could then allegedly block incoming M-Pesa notifications before entering the correct transaction details and completing a successful transfer. The phone would subsequently be returned to the agent for the transaction PIN to be entered.
With transaction notifications blocked, the agent would not immediately receive confirmation that the money had been successfully transferred.
The customer could then allegedly ask the agent to make another attempt, this time providing incorrect details.
Believing that no money had been transferred, the agent could then refund the cash handed over by the customer.
Meanwhile, the money from the earlier successful transaction could already have been withdrawn by the recipient, leaving the agent with both the cash refunded to the customer and the amount that had already been transferred missing from the account.
The commenter cautioned M-Pesa agents against allowing customers to operate the agent’s phone during transactions, regardless of the reason given.
“What she’s failing to tell yu is that after like two failed attempts, the customer requested apewe the M-Pesa phone ajiwekee number of which the agent complied, thereafter the customer blocks M-Pesa messages, inputs his correct details, hands the phone back to the agent aweke pin and the transaction goes through,” Lucy Carey explained.
“Now that the messages are blocked, the agent won’t receive any notification so the customer requests they try for the fourth time now, anaweka wrong details, unblock messages, ile yenye pesa ilienda anadelete and hands the phone back for the completion of the transaction again which will automatically fail due to wrong details. Now that ameunblock messages hiyo itaigia na iseme failed the agent will have to refund the cash but pesa Ishenda and the receiving party withdraws immediately. This is the new trick nowadays. Caution; never give the mpesa phone to a customer no matter what,” she added.
