Scams targeting first-years: fake hostel agents, M-Pesa tricks and fake job offers

The setup: someone (online or near campus) offers you a room. Good location, good price, available immediately. They ask for a deposit via M-Pesa before you see the room. You send the money. They disappear.

Variations: they show you a room that is not theirs, they use a fake ID, or they sub-let a room they have no authority over and vanish with your deposit.

How to protect yourself:

• Never pay a deposit without visiting the room in person.
• Verify the landlord. Ask for their ID, ask current tenants if they are the real owner, and check if the building has a caretaker you can confirm with.
• Be suspicious of prices that are significantly below what others are paying in the same area.
• If someone pressures you to pay immediately because "someone else wants it," walk away. Scammers create urgency. Legitimate landlords have time.

This scam is common in the weeks before reporting when first-years are looking for accommodation from home. Read the accommodation guide for safe ways to find a place.

The setup: you receive an M-Pesa message saying someone sent you money. They call and say it was a mistake. They ask you to send it back. The catch: the original message was a fake SMS (not from Safaricom) or the transaction is later reversed, leaving you out of pocket.

Another version: someone asks to use your phone to "send a quick message." They actually initiate an M-Pesa transaction from your line.

How to protect yourself:

• If someone claims to have sent you money by mistake, tell them to reverse it through Safaricom themselves. You do not need to send it back manually. Legitimate reversals go through the network.
• Verify any M-Pesa notification by checking your actual M-Pesa balance, not just the SMS. Fake messages look real but do not change your balance.
• Never hand your phone to a stranger. If someone needs to make a call, offer to dial the number for them while holding your phone.

The setup: a "company" advertises jobs, internships, or attachments for students. The pay sounds good, the requirements are minimal, and all you need to do is pay a "registration fee" or "uniform deposit." You pay. The job never materialises.

Variations: they ask you to buy products upfront (multi-level marketing disguised as a job), or they collect your ID and documents "for processing" and use them for identity fraud.

How to protect yourself:

• A real job never asks you to pay to get hired. If someone asks for money before you start working, it is a scam. No exceptions.
• Search the company name online before applying. If it has no website, no LinkedIn presence, and no verifiable address, it probably does not exist.
• Be cautious of opportunities shared only through WhatsApp or SMS. Legitimate companies post on their websites and on established job boards.
• Never give original documents (ID, certificates) to an employer before your first day of work, and even then, only provide copies.

Fake emergency calls. Someone calls claiming to be from your family or university and asks for urgent money. Always verify by calling the person directly on their known number.

Fake exam materials. Someone sells "leaked" exam papers or CAT answers. They are fake, and buying them can get you expelled for academic dishonesty even if the papers are not real.

"Investment" groups. A friend invites you to a WhatsApp group promising quick returns. You send money and recruit others. This is a pyramid scheme. You will lose your money, and the people you recruited will lose theirs.

The common thread: pressure, urgency, and money flowing from you to someone you cannot verify. When in doubt, pause. Talk to a trusted friend, a family member, or a campus counsellor before sending money to anyone. See the campus life cluster for more.