Con men lured Embakasi man with fake dollars

 When they unwrapped the notes with his friend on their way back, they realised they had been conned

Mathews Opunyi is an unhappy man, having lost some of his most valued items to cunning Nairobi men. The machine operator in one of the go-downs in Embakasi, claims that he lost a brand new phone worth Sh16,000 to con men who took advantage of his ignorance.

“I was on my way from work when a shabbily dressed middle-aged man approached me. He claimed that he needed help to convert dollars to Kenya shillings,” Opunyi told The Nairobian.

The man who introduced himself as Wambua had allegedly received $3,500 from his mzungu friend, but needed help to convert the cash since he claimed that he did not have a bank account.

Opunyi promised to help him the following day and Wambua who did not have a phone, gave him a phone number of his accomplice.

“He gave me contacts of his friend who was keeping the dollars for him and that told me that we should do the transaction later that evening,” Opunyi said.

Opunyi and Wambua agreed to meet him on Sunday at Mlolongo to complete the transaction. Scared of the deal, Opunyi convinced one of his friends, Wycliffe Otieno, to accompany him to Mlolongo, promising him kitu kidogo if the deal sailed through.

“It was month end and I had just paid my rent, bought a brand new phone and was left broke so we walked to Mlolongo,” he says.

The two men arrived in Mlolongo at 11am and called their host, who was waiting for them around Mlolongo shopping centre.

Sceptical, Otieno had to wait from a distance, since he wasn’t part of the original plan.

“Wambua brought neatly wrapped dollar notes, but insisted that I leave Sh10,000 as security because I could take off with his money,” Opunyi said.

But Opunyi gave Wambua his brand new phone instead as security since he had no cash.

When they unwrapped the notes with his friend on their way back, they realised they had been conned.

“That man had given them fake money with two fake dollars at the front and back of the wad of notes,” says Opunyi.

The two men trekked back to Pipeline with no dollars and no brand new Infinix phone.