Phone tout scam in Tanzania

Fraudulent phone sellers in Dar es Salaam

Kipruto Thomas 23 Jun 2019 3 0

Where it occurs: Just outside the Numerous electronic shops in the city. So you are round and about scouting for an item or just window shopping. A man/lady with a genuine phone hands it to you and tells you that he will sell it to you at a fraction of the shop price. He will even claim to be the owner of a shop but hadn’t made any sale since morning and that is why he came outside.

He will even give it to you to see its features, make a call, inspect the battery etc. You may be tempted to buy the phone out of curiosity or to gift a friend back at home.

What he will do: As soon as you’ve closed deal, he will claim to remove his SIM card. The process happens in seconds and you are handed the phone, he disappears into the crowd. The ‘phone’ you are handed looks like the one shown to you earlier, but it isn’t.

As you remove the battery and starts to install your SIM back at home or your room, you discover that you have bought a shell! The original phone you were shown was swapped as you saw.

Quick tip: Buy a phone from a store and not a person on the street.

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