Proof of just how gullible many Kenyans can be is the frequency with which people are easily lured into get-rich-quick schemes. The con games, Ponzi schemes and other rip-offs have been reported widely in the media, but new ones emerge and there is a rush to sign up. The confidence tricksters have sweet tongues, and people only realise that they have been led down the garden path when their hard-earned earnings and lifetime savings have vanished with the crooks.
Kenyans have been swindled out of billions of shillings by the smooth-talking thieves and just never seem to learn. To them the saying, once bitten, twice shy, does not mean much. They will be bitten many more times, because they always expect manna from heaven. Gullible Kenyans expect to make quick money and the pyramid scheme architects often have a field day. Since 150,000 Kenyans lost Sh8 billion in pyramid schemes between 2004 and 2007, the government launched a crackdown that led to the freezing of bank accounts and the enactment of strict new laws to fix the fraudsters.
However, this does not seem to have been a strong enough deterrent. Today, Kenyans are still losing their hard-earned money to these crooks. Some suspects have been arrested and charged, but the cases drag on for too long or the crooks use the same money they have stolen to buy their freedom. The latest is the one in which some people were cheated out of more than Sh500,000 each in a dubious housing scheme.
There is a need to tighten the laws to stop the fraudsters. However, even before this is done, it is important that the courts speed up the hearing of such fraud cases. But even more important is the need to create more awareness and blow the whistle on the crooks.
Credit: Source link