IN SHORT: A Facebook page promising to change the financial lives of Kenyans and Tanzanians by recruiting them into the “Illuminati” has popped up yet again. But it's a well-known type of fraud, this time employing a different tactic to defraud people.
The Facebook page Karibu illuminati bila kafara ya familia yako 0743367031 is promising to change the financial lives of Kenyans and Tanzanians by recruiting them into the Illuminati.
“Karibu illuminati bila kafara ya familia yako 0743367031” is Kiswahili for “Welcome to Illuminati without offering your family as a sacrifice”.
The Illuminati is a popular conspiracy theory, referred to by Vox news as “shadowy cabals that supposedly control the world”. But in Kenya, the term often refers to what is believed to be a network of devil worshippers practising human sacrifice in return for wealth.
Its posts feature piles of Kenyan and Tanzanian money, cars and women in skimpy clothes – and sometimes all three.
But are these offers and the Facebook page to be trusted? We checked.
Another fraud scheme
To understand how the joining process works, Africa Check sent a message to the cell phone number provided in the ad. The ad says the number belongs to “Madam Nancie”, the organisation’s “agent”.
Someone asked for our name and location and after answering, a woman sent us a voice message explaining how it worked.
She told us that if we joined we would be paid KSh20 million at the end of every month, with a daily reward of KSh4,000. She also promised to open a “big business” for us in our preferred location.
But there was a catch. She explained that we would first be issued with a “magical neck chain” that would attract customers to our business. But it was not for free. We were asked to part with KSh700 for the chain. A condition to pay before further engagement is usually a clear sign of a scam.
Africa Check has debunked similar scams using the Illuminati idea to defraud users, but the majority were targeting M-Pesa shops in Kenya. M-Pesa is a mobile money financial service by Safaricom and widely used in Kenya. Safaricom is the country’s largest telecoms company.
This seems to be a different tactic. But the page is still fake and the offer of riches is a scam.
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