Back to Africa Check

Scam alert – Don’t send money to get a job at Kenya’s Naivas supermarket

IN SHORT: A job advert posted on Facebook claims the Naivas supermarket chain is recruiting dozens of workers across Kenya. Don't fall for it.

Naivas, a major Kenyan retailer, is hiring, according to an ad posted on Facebook.

The ad, for “serious workers”, lists a variety of jobs, including cashiers, drivers, cleaners, storekeepers and packers. Each job is listed with an expected salary.

The ad's caption tells a slightly different story – that Naivas is looking for 200 casual workers in each of Kenya's 47 counties. These include messengers, cleaners, warehouse supervisors and loaders, all of whom will be paid a fixed daily wage of between KSh850 and KSh1250 (US$6 to $8).

Interested candidates are asked to “book” via a WhatsApp number. But there's a catch. Those shortlisted will have to pay KSh500 for job cards and company uniforms. 

Is the advert genuine? We checked.

NaivasJob_Scam

Signs of a scam

The requirement to “book” using a private number was an early red flag, as was paying for job cards and uniforms.

To verify the ad's authenticity, we searched the Naivas website. But we couldn’t find any such jobs listed.

The website does feature a disclaimer advising job seekers that, if in doubt, they should confirm the jobs advertised with Naivas directly through official email addresses provided.

Naivas was also keen to stress that it does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process.

All signs point to these ads on Facebook being fake.

For more information, read our guide to avoiding scams on Facebook.

Republish our content for free

We believe that everyone needs the facts.

You can republish the text of this article free of charge, both online and in print. However, we ask that you pay attention to these simple guidelines. In a nutshell:

1. Do not include images, as in most cases we do not own the copyright.

2. Please do not edit the article.

3. Make sure you credit "Africa Check" in the byline and don't forget to mention that the article was originally published on africacheck.org.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.