Lost Documents Scam

WARNING: These are REAL incidents that have happened to people. We choose to place you as the main character so as to show you how easy it is to fall prey to such circumstances. Remember ROLES CHANGE, SKILLS EVOLVE but SCRIPT remains SAME. So IGNORANCE of the probability of such occurrences ever happening to you is entirely at your own DISCRETION.

To anyone who has ever lost important documents like Identification Cards (IDs), passports or official documents understands the pain associated with replacing the said documents.

For instance, if one happens to lose an ID card in Kenya, he will be compelled to; go to a chief and have his finger prints taken all over again, pay a certain fee to process a new one, wait for almost two(2) months

Every Kenyan will bear me witness how frustrating it is not to have an ID card since virtually every service requires that you possess one. So take the below instance for example:

You happen to be the unfortunate victim to lose some very important documents. However, being the optimistic individual that you are, you decide to mount posters at key locations in the city detailing the information on the said documents and also your contact information hoping that a Good Samaritan may run into them and ultimately return them to you.

After about two (2) days, you receive a call telling you that your lost documents have been found. Further inquiry into how you can repossess them leads the caller to ask you of your current location and after you tell him, he says that it is somehow impossible to repossess them.

Shocked, you further inquire why it may seem so and he replies that he is a police commissioner and he is currently on an assignment in a very remote location very far from where you are.

When you ask him how he came into possession of the documents in question, he says that someone deposited them at his police station claiming that found them in a dumpster. So as he was patrolling around the city he caught sight of one of your posters and that is how he managed to reach you.

You ask him if there is any other way to get back your documents upon which he gives you an option of waiting for him to return in about a week’s time or he send it via post to your location.

You quickly choose the latter option due to its convenience. He tells you to send him some cash to facilitate its transport via courier service and also for his trip to the nearest town since he is at a remote location at the moment where there are no courier services.

Furthermore, he asks for details of the destination address he should mail it to and that you should send both the money and details as soon as possible since he has official duties to attend to and he will be unavailable the rest of the day.

You assure him that you will send him the money and details in the next ten (10) minutes. After the lapse of the said time, you call him asking him if he has received them and he answers to the affirmative and says he will call you back as soon as he has sends the parcel.

After about half an hour, he calls back and says that he has successfully sent the parcel to the address you had given him and it shall arrive tomorrow. You are delighted at the news and in return offer to send him some more money as a token of appreciation which he accepts without hesitation.

The next day you wait anxiously for the parcel. As night draws nearer, you get desperate and decide to call him back only to find the dreaded voice mail ‘’Mteja wa nambari uliopiga hapatikani kwa sasa!’’-The person you are attempting to reach is not available at the moment!

A few more tries with the same outcome and it finally dawns on you that you have been CONNED!

Modus Operandi (Mode of Operation)

• The fraudster got all your information regarding you and your lost documents from your posters.
• The fraudster assumed an authoritative figure since everyone tends to believe in authority.
• By asking of your current location, he seeks to establish a location very far from yours so as to introduce the idea of a courier service.
• By providing the option of waiting for a week for his return or introducing the courier service, he knows very well that you will choose the latter due to its convenience.
• By telling you to send the money immediately since he will be unavailable later on provides no room for you to have second thoughts but to send the money as soon as possible