Kenyans planning to travel on the Madaraka Express have been urged to be extra cautious when booking train tickets after Kenya Railways raised the alarm over fraudsters posing as the corporation to sell fake tickets online.
In a public notice issued on Friday, the state corporation said scammers have created fake websites, social media accounts and other unofficial booking platforms that trick unsuspecting travellers into paying for tickets that do not exist.
According to Kenya Railways, a number of passengers have already lost money after making payments through the fraudulent platforms, believing they were dealing with the official booking service.
“Kenya Railways wishes to notify members of the public that fraudulent websites, social media pages and individuals are impersonating the Corporation and deceiving customers into making payments through fraudulent channels, resulting in financial loss,” the notice stated.
This follows the high level of demand for tickets in Madaraka Express, where most passengers are preferring online reservation, especially on weekends and holidays.
It has been advised that anyone who becomes a victim of the scam should report immediately using the official customer care channels of Kenya Railways Corporation so as to facilitate the investigations.
According to the corporation, efforts are underway in collaboration with security agencies to hunt for scammers engaged in the fraudulent activities and to curb the increasing incidences of online ticket scams.
In order to avoid becoming victims of these scams, passengers have been urged to buy their tickets from the official Kenya Railways booking website, *639# USSD and Madaraka Express station counters nation wide.
Passengers were also reminded by the corporation that, for those who would like to travel in the recently upgraded coaches, the tickets can only be obtained from the booking counters at the stations and not online as online bookings don’t always guarantee that one will board the upgraded coaches.
In another advisory issued by Kenya Railways, members of the public have been advised to ascertain booking sites before transferring any funds, as they might end up losing their money and being inconvenienced.
The new scam is part of several other online scams that have been reported in Kenya, with hackers capitalizing on popular online services to defraud people.