This Safaricom Scam dubbed ‘Safaricom Spin’ is currently one of the best worked on scams I have seen. I know that’s not something you expect to see when reading about scams. But as we always say here on Gadgets Africa, we give credit where it’s due and call out the uglies when needed to.

So first things first, let’s understand what this scam is about, what it offers and what makes it stand out from the rest.

Safaricom Spin Scam

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This scam comes at a time when a lot of people are looking for a little extra cash. So when the opportunity comes up to earn a ‘loyal customer prize from Safaricom’ it get’s a little intruiging.

The prize is slated at a ‘whooping’ KES 3,800 if you are elligible to participate. Once you click on the ‘Check It’ link, it ‘verifies’ if you qualify for the cash prize and then gives you steps on how to redeem your prize.

Before we get to the bad, let’s look at what they worked hard on

1. The layout: The outward User Interface is very Safaricom esque. They have the right shades of green, good looking fonts and high quality ‘images’.
2. The Link is also more appealing than most other scams
3. Finally, Facebook comments and a like counter to give you the confidence that others have won too.

However, they have failed on some aspects. Especially when you get into actually getting the money. Steps to getting the money;

1. Get verified by inputting your number
2. Send the LINK TO 12 WHATSAPP GROUPS
3. Click the link specific to the phone and then… nothing

We took it all the way to the third step…

This is what happens when you share to 12 groups. We bypassed this by just clicking the WhatsApp button 12 times on the laptop. “We had to disable all my security apps just to try it”. Don’t try this at home.

This is where the scam is. We went ahead and clicked the android and iPhone button. It redirected across three affiliate links and ended up on a blog article about an app for forex trading. Every time you click on it, it opens a different forex trading website.

Note: There’s no app download, it’s just a trick to get people to click links. And of course, there’s no money sent on M-Pesa.

Risks within this Scam

1. They are collecting your phone numbers: This means you might soon be receiving some spam messages
2. Vulnerability to online/cyber attacks: You are never too sure what information they might be able to collect.

How they benefit:

So apart from collecting phone numbers, they are also getting money through the affiliate links. Don’t let them scam you too.