The e-commerce industry in Kenya has been growing at an incredible rate with businessmen of all kinds moving their shops to various online platforms. And we all know how much Kenyans love getting their stuff in a convenient way. But you might want to hold off on instantly trusting that sleek car dealer that you saw on Facebook or Instagram just yet.

An exclusive report from Nation came out with user cases stating how they have lost what is more than a million shillings in total to online scammers masqueraded as car dealers.

Since 2018, when one of the cases was reported, one of the victims has still never been able to recover his money. What makes the situation even worse is that these dealers do a really good job in earning their victims’ trust by bringing in lawyers and even having office setups.

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Mr Kelvin Ngugi, aged 23, wanted to upgrade from his old Toyota Sienta so he chose to go online dealers he could find on Jiji.ke. Luckily, he came across a car he wanted to get from a dealer identified as Mr Ronald Bundi.

The seller was willing to trade-in Mr Ngugi old car for so te discussions began on how to conclude the acquisition. Later on, Kelvin Ngugi was surprised by a message from Mr Bundi claiming that the trade-in option was no longer viable.

He was left with the sole option of selling his car to buy the one he wanted, a newer white Toyota Sienta, registration KCQ. So, he sold his vehicle and reached back to Mr Bundi who informed the car was still available in showroom at KES 600,000.

Kelvin was even told to go meet the trader, Mr Bundi, at a lawyer’s office to conclude the payment. When that was done and drafted, Mr Bundi then offered to go get the car only to never show up again.

The report goes further with another individual who lost KES 900k to the same Ronald Bundi in what is pretty much a scam run in the same order. It is also important to note that there are many other people that have lost lots of money to similar scam deals and might not even have been part of the report. So, it is clear to see that this is a growing pandemic across the country.

It is no news that scammers are all over and now in this digital era, they seem to have taken on new compelling ways to get away with millions of shillings.

So, as much as you might be pressed to acquire anything from an online dealer being three times as cautious would never hurt you.