Today I would like to address the gift hamper romance scam, this is a scam that has caused many people to lose their money especially in the Eastern part of Africa and more so in Kenya. Lots of people and especially women have come forward to share their stories on how they were scammed.
The gift humper romance scam is a very well-orchestrated romance scam, you meet someone on a dating app, and after chatting for a while, they tell you that they have decided to send you a gift hamper. The hamper usually contains some very expensive gifts like the latest iPhone, an iPad, a laptop, and some diamond jewelry like bracelets, earrings, and maybe even a diamond ring.
Don’t Fall For The Gift Hamper Romance Scam
After sending you the photos of the gift hamper, the scammers will proceed to send you a tracking number, and the whole process will appear legit. After a couple of days, you would receive a phone call, the person will claim to be from the courier services. They will inform you that your package has arrived but there are some clearing charges that you need to cater for before the package can be released from the airport.
This is where now people lose money because the so-called courier person will make it sound urgent and if you don’t send the money immediately either your package will be sent back to where it came from or it could be auctioned. So the clearance fees can be anywhere between 20 thousand Kenya shillings to 50 thousand, there is even a lady on Tiktok who said she lost 70 thousand Kenya shillings.
They Might Even Say That They Have Placed Cash In The Hamper To Reimburse You
Once you contact the person who claimed to have sent you the package and tell them about the clearance fee, they will tell you that you can just pay the fee because in the hamper they have included a lump sum of money in cash, so you will be reimbursed.
Once you send the initial amount, they might try to swindle you some more but once you reduce to send more money, then they will block all means of contacting them, and just like that, your money is gone.
As I Keep Saying, Never Send Money To Anyone You Meet Online
The problem with many people who are joining dating sites, they don’t do research, if you were to just do a quick Google search it would save you a lot of money and a lot of heartaches. Seriously like I keep saying on my TikTok videos, Google is your friend, you can search for anything, you can even reverse search images to see if that person you are talking to is using other people’s photos on his/her dating profile.
And also stop sending your personal details to people you don’t know. There is a lady just recently who told me that someone was asking her to scan her id and passport and send them to him so he can help her get a visa to travel to Euro
People Are Falling For Gift Hamper Romance Scam Because Of Lack Of Knowledge
Honestly, if people would just take some time and educate themselves about romance scams and other online scams, it would save them lots of money. There is so much content on this subject, on my website alone I have written quite a few articles on this subject. So if you would just take some time and read some articles, watch some videos, then you will be aware of red flags to watch out for.
If you are living in Kenya, when someone sends you a gift hamper or a package, they are supposed to clear all charges. And if they haven’t cleared the charges, they will be informed that when the person receives the package there will be pending charges, this usually happens when the package comes via the post office.
When you go to the post office, the officers will make you open your package to confirm that everything is as it should be, then they will let you know how much you should pay for taxes and any other fees that the sender had not cleared.
But If Your Package Is Sent Via DHL, Usually You Just Show Your ID And Collect
With DHL Unless the package remains without being collected for a long time in which case there might be some storage charges, there shouldn’t be a problem. I have collected many packages from DHL while I was in Kenya and I usually just produced my ID, signed for the package and I would be on my way, no extra charges whatsoever.
Even if there were extra charges, how can you just transfer money to someone you don’t know, and you haven’t even seen the package you are paying for? That doesn’t even make sense. Be very careful when you are using dating sites and apps, not everyone is there to find love, others are there to prey on love seekers.
Conclusion
Lots of people are falling victim to this kind of scam and other types of romance scams, I just hope you will be careful even as you search for love online. Life is tough right now so do not let yourself lose your hard-earned cash to these scammers. And if you have already fallen victim, I am so sorry and just know you are not alone.
Also don’t feel like you are a fool, the truth is these kinds of scams are very well planned and the person will be preying on your emotions and your desperation to find a love partner. To be honest, anyone can fall victim to these scams no matter how smart they are. My advice to you is to educate yourself on red flags and keywords to look out for.
Well, I hope you find my article helpful today. If so please leave me a comment below. Have ever fallen victim to a scam any scam? leave your comments below and share this article on your social media.
Thank you for your time.
Rose.
