About a month ago, we did a rather compelling story on the experiences Kenyans have on Jiji Kenya. The tales on Twitter were funny, interesting and scary all at the same time.

The security issues most especially stood out raising attention over the Jiji scope and how they plan to protect their customers. Following the story, the Managing Director at Jiji Kenya reached out to us and clarified to us all they are doing to curb the security risks.

Security Features on Jiji Kenya

According to the company, hundreds of thousands of Kenyans visit Jiji every day to conduct their business. Unfortunately, as you must have already noticed there are a few bad eggs with ulterior motives who try to get on Jiji to scam people.

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With this in mind, the company has a range of security measures and checks aimed at making its platform uncompromising for any scammers.

How Jiji Protects Customers

1. Moderation Process: Every ad goes through a moderation process before it goes live on the site. According to the team, if an ad is considered fraudulent, it gets rejected and the seller might immediately get banned.
2. Protection of User accounts: When it comes to your account, Jiji does additional checks when users change important settings in their user profile. For example, when changing passwords, changing the contact phone number, log in to an account from a new device, etc. These are steps scammers always take if they gain access to a user’s account. When the team realizes this, the account gets blocked.
3. Reporting of Suspicious Ads and Scams: Jiji also allows for ‘whistleblowing’. Should you see any suspicious advert, you can click on the button “Something wrong?” and choose the reason for suspicion. If a user gets two requests for a ban, he will be blocked automatically by the Jiji system.
4. Monitoring of Websites: Jiji looks out for complaints about fraud and scams in Kenya. They then block accounts of any accused person on Jiji until the case has been resolved.
5. Banning of Prepayments: Prepayments are highly prohibited and this is displayed on every ad page on Jiji. In the nutshell, Jiji instructs every user to operate on a ‘Pay on delivery’ model.
6. Collaboration with Police: Any and all scammers on the site are forwarded to the Kenyan Police to take legal actions.

How To Protect Yourself

Always check and test the item before you buy them

My wife ordered a phone through Jiji, the delivery guy comes and insists she must pay before viewing, she rejected the order and wrote to Jiji. They send another guy, same story. Solution: check items on the site and physically look for the shop in town.

— King Daddy (@tittoo1) October 4, 2020

Never take them to your humble abode. Meet in a public place and with a third, fourth and fifth party if possible.

I've bought like 5 phonew uko, 3 ikiwa OLX na 2 after rebranding…
rule no1 never carry cash!
Rule 2, act stupid but suspicious
Rule 3, never meet in a private place
Rule 4, never go solo
Rule 5, be the one to decide where you meet, usimfwate blindly akikushow mpatane

— MR Was Removed (@AlecksKin) October 4, 2020

If possible, you may also want to buy goods that are attached to a physical shop.

Make sure the product is attached to a physical shop.
If buying from a private seller (mtu binafsi) employ evasive maneuvers. Public meeting. No cash. Pay once you have cash in hand. Take a friend with you.
Be careful.

— Shakesmkuki (@leriwanka) October 4, 2020

In Cases of Job Search, applicants must check the company’s background and look through the website before going for the interview. Do not to submit any upfront fees for a job application and stay away from remote or unfamiliar places for interviews.