Being conned is still a surprise to many, especially for those in Nairobi. The kind of expertise used by some of these con artists has really upgraded to unimaginable levels and this is why some of those who fall prey to these con artists are left wondering how and what has happened to them.
The shocking part in this is that no one is excluded in this exercise whether learned, illiterate, young, middle-aged or old. This has especially affected some of the young generations who love to use shortcuts as a passage in their lives.
In (Central Business District )CBD, is where most of these con activities take place. Here there are masses of people always walking in opposite directions while others gather in groups surrounding someone who is either preaching, performing arts or playing with a deck of cards trying to convince the listeners that they can get double their money.
I remember one experience of my neighbour who was in form 2 in high school. He had been given school fees by his parents to go and pay as he was going to school on the opening day.
The parents trusted him to go alone and as he was walking in the streets of Nyamakima near river road, a man who was exchanging cards was shouting,” Ngiri double, Thao double, karibia karibia Leo inaweza kuwa ni siku yako ya kuomoka.”
These words were really convincing and persuading thus leading to the boy getting closer. A few minutes after seeing a woman who he had found there win triple her money, the boy removed all his school fees which amounted to approximately Ksh 15,000 and gave the man hope that it would be doubled.
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At the first round so as to psyche him they told him he had won Ksh 1,000 and this led the boy to even give away his transport fees. Within a few minutes of betting and placing the money, it was not until when the boy added his pocket money that all things went haywire. The man courageously told the boy that he had lost everything.
The sad part is that after telling him that they started packing their things and disappeared among the people. This caused depression and suicidal thoughts in the boy because of fear of how to approach the parents.
In the past few years, we have also seen and heard famous singers coming out and telling their fans how at the beginning of their journey they were conned by some of the people who tried to offer them assistance to record their songs in a lesser amount of money and later those people stole their songs and also their money.
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Others are even pretending to be the local county government officials famously known as the ‘kanjo’ and they end up taking money from small entrepreneurs. This mainly is because the ‘kanjo’ do not wear uniforms thus it’s hard to identify them.
The rate of increase in unemployment has led to the increase of these miscellaneous acts such as conning. Many people are becoming depressed and pressured by the hard economic times thus leading them to these illegal activities.
The county governments should increase security, this might be through monitoring the ‘kanjo’ activities and also allowing them to go to work in uniforms. There should also be heavy punishments for those who are found guilty of these con activities.
Students should also be guided on persuasion ethics and how to know and overcome con artists. This might be through telling them the past experiences of those who have already fallen victim to these con artists.
