M-PESA scams
How to verify an M-PESA payment before releasing goods
Check an M-PESA payment in your own account before releasing goods, giving change, or accepting a buyer's screenshot or confirmation message.
Quick check
Got a suspicious number, Paybill, Till, email, website, or company name? Search it before sending money.
The buyer's screen is not your receipt
A payment message, screenshot, or app screen shown by a buyer is controlled by the buyer. It can be copied, edited, old, or unrelated to the sale in front of you. Do not release goods, give cash change, or send a refund until the payment appears in the account that was meant to receive it.
Open your own usual M-PESA channel rather than a link or app supplied by the buyer. Check the incoming transaction in your own messages, recent activity, statement, Till, or Paybill records. Match the amount, time, transaction code, sender or customer details, and destination account to this specific sale.
Match the transaction, not just the balance
A familiar balance is not enough because another payment may have changed it earlier. Find the actual incoming transaction and reconcile it against the order or invoice. If you use a Till or Paybill, use the merchant records available to your business rather than asking to inspect the customer's phone.
Do not treat a transaction code typed into a chat as proof. A convincing code or message format still needs to match a completed credit in your own records. If the transaction is missing or the details differ, pause the handover and use a support channel you found independently.
A genuine prompt can still authorise the wrong payment
K24 reported in July 2026 that an unexpected payment request can arrive through the genuine M-PESA interface. The fact that a prompt looks authentic does not mean you started it or that it will pay you; it may instead ask you to pay an unfamiliar recipient.
Before entering a PIN, read the transaction type, amount, recipient or business name, Paybill or Till, and account reference. Decline a request you did not initiate. A merchant waiting to receive money should not have to enter a PIN merely to accept that customer's payment.
Protect the merchant handset during a busy sale
In a July 2026 warning following alleged fraud against an M-PESA operator, the DCI told agents and the public never to hand a SIM card, phone, or M-PESA handset to a customer. The DCI also warned that groups may use distraction and unusual requests while another action is attempted.
Keep the receiving device in the control of authorised staff, serve and reconcile one payment at a time, and do not reveal a PIN or one-time code. If someone insists on handling the phone, asks you to dial an unfamiliar code, or rushes you past the account check, stop the transaction.
Record and report a payment that does not appear
Keep the order details, claimed amount and time, the phone number or business details used, and the claimed transaction code. Preserve your own account record showing the mismatch. Do not collect or publish PINs, one-time codes, ID numbers, full statements, or unrelated private conversations.
If goods or money have already left, contact Safaricom or the relevant provider immediately through an official channel and make a police report where appropriate. Reporting does not guarantee recovery, but acting quickly gives the provider and investigators a clearer transaction trail.
Check identifiers without treating silence as clearance
Search the buyer's phone number, website, company name, Paybill, or Till on ScamBusterKE for community-reported patterns. People report what happened to them; those reports are warning signals, not a finding that a named person or business is guilty.
No report does not prove a number, buyer, or payment is safe. Verify the credit in your own M-PESA records before every handover. If you report the attempt, describe the behaviour and upload only redacted, relevant evidence; evidence uploads are private.
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Related checks
Identify a fake M-PESA message
Check receipt details, masked sender information, and unexpected-payment warning signs.
Check the M-PESA number that sent you money
Understand masked sender numbers and the official consent-based lookup process.
Report M-PESA fraud safely
Use provider, police, and private community-reporting channels for the right purpose.