I have a basic quota of 30 emails per day. You might be wondering which kind of business I do. No need of pushing your mind too far because I’m neither a customer care representatives nor a webmaster. The truth is, I do not know everybody who writes to me and do not need their mails. The sin I ever made is that of making my e-mail address public. That is the reason I receive all kind of solicitations; some asking me to help them recover inheritance wealth, others asking me to help them pay for their studies. There are also those proposing me job offers in countries that I stay without any problems. On the list, you can also find some big companies sending notification mails to let me know that I have won millions of American dollars or euros.
Sometimes I wonder why I should apply for a job offered to me from Canada through a fellow in Africa though I’m in the French Canadian province of Quebec.
Most of my correspondents are from West Africa, and always relatives to deceased prominent people. To make things more attractive they are ready to debit millions in your bank account without even knowing you. With some friends, we conducted our own investigation that took us to a West African country in 2006. I could not believe my eyes by seeing the “yahoo boys” driving very expensive cars, going to expensive restaurants, brief, living like princes. We also learnt from our sources that they sometimes kill people on their trail after realizing that they have lost money.
I normally mark their addresses as unwanted but the same names still in touch. How? With just one name, a fellow signs up for a dozens of emails addresses.
In Kenya they can not be called yahoo boys because they do not act on internet but through mobile phones.
Kenya being a growing economy and a favorable ground for investors, one needs to have very good marketing plans to survive in the business world. Thats why promotions are run throughout the year regardless of the season. Many Kenyans have won wonderful prizes and citizens now believe in everything that goes by the promotions with the hope of owning a car, a house, a plot… some of these days. Many companies ask their clients to register through SMS’s as it the technology of the day in the Country.
Not left behind with the technology advancement are Conmen, they send sms’s to their victims announcing to them that they have won prizes and to claim their trophies, they need to send personal details, bank account details sometimes even sending airtime or transferring money to them.
Manufacturers have now joined their hands to stop fraudulent transactions in the name of promotions. Together with mobile phone operators and in collaboration with the Kenya police, they have introduced a hotline sms number that people will use to check on the credibility. If only computer solution giants could have gathered to prevent fraudulent transactions by willing to disclose to the International Police – Interpol -information related to those reported by victims, my correspondents list will drastically reduce.