tHE Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) on Thursday, July 9 exposed five phone numbers used by cons to swindle money from unsuspecting Kenyans.

One of the bold fraudsters went to the extent of impersonating the government agency's Managing Director, Bernard Njiraini.

The five phone numbers were published on the KEBS official twitter handle.

"Following a public notice placed on 7th April 2020 in the newspapers to warn the public on conmen impersonating KEBS MD and KEBS officers," read a statement from KEBS.The con using the number to solicit money from Kenyans also issued threats to prey who failed to comply with the demands being issued.

KEBS warned the public that the cons were not employees and should be reported to the nearest police station whenever they attempt to defraud Kenyans.


The government agency issued channels that the public can use when making payments and how to verify its employees.

"All monies payable to KEBS should be deposited into the KEBS bank accounts, or payable via the KEBS Mpesa Paybill Number.

"Authenticate a KEBS Officer by sending an SMS with HR#Staff Number to 20023. You will receive details indicating the name of the KEBS staff, the position, ID Number and the department they work in," read the statement in part.

KEBS also encouraged the public to use their toll-free contacts or their email with any information that can be of assistance.

Back on Tuesday, April 7, KEBS revealed that one of the cons was working with an "Oduor" and Peter Christopher Baraza who used two numbers also impersonated the Managing Director.

There has been a rising number of Kenyans falling prey to fraudsters during the Covid-19 pandemic especially online scams as more people spend time using the internet.

https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/55146-kebs-exposes-phone-numbers-used-con-kenyans