Noel Akivembe, a woman from Nakuru, Kenya, found herself conned out of KSh 2.8 million by a close friend. The friend, pretending to be a man interested in marrying her, managed to swindle Akivembe over an extended period.
Noel Akivembe, a mother of three, shared her painful story with TUKO.co.ke. Her ordeal began when she reconnected with a childhood friend after a period of no contact.
This friend, whom Akivembe had known since their church-going days as children, played a significant role in Akivembe’s life, even working for her at a salon Akivembe set up in Juba, South Sudan.
After years of being out of touch, Akivembe returned to Kenya and happened to run into her old friend. The friend, recognizing Akivembe by her hairstyle, rekindled their friendship.
During their conversations, Akivembe mentioned her desire to get married, joking about her advancing age and the lack of a potential husband.
Seizing this opportunity, the friend claimed to know an eligible man who was interested in marriage. She said he was a widower with two daughters, similar to Akivembe, who has two sons and a daughter.
The friend provided Akivembe with the man's phone number, describing him as a potential life partner. Akivembe began communicating with the man, who supposedly lived abroad. They quickly grew close, sharing frequent messages and calls.
The man's first request for money came when he claimed to be hospitalized in Singapore, needing funds for medical bills.
He asked Akivembe to send KSh 20,000 through her friend, citing his severe health condition. Trusting her friend, Akivembe obliged, setting the stage for a series of increasingly large financial transfers.
Over the next few months, the requests for money escalated. The man allegedly needed funds for various emergencies, including hospital bills, COVID-19 certificate clearance at the airport, and daily expenses due to his purported diabetes and high blood pressure.
Akivembe sent all the money through her friend, convinced that she was helping her future husband.
The supposed man fed Akivembe numerous stories to extract more money. At one point, he claimed his daughter had passed away, and he was in such distress that he fell from a hospital bed, injuring his spine.
He said he needed KSh 300,000 to be flown to India for surgery. Desperate to help, Akivembe borrowed the money and sent it, receiving what she believed were genuine videos of the man being treated by doctors.
As the demands continued, Akivembe's financial situation worsened. She borrowed money from family and friends to meet the man's constant needs, believing she was supporting her future husband in his time of crisis. Her brother and friends also contributed significant amounts, trusting Akivembe’s judgment.
The situation took a dramatic turn in September 2022 when Akivembe lost contact with both the man and her friend. For months, she tried to reach them, but to no avail.
The reality of the scam became apparent when people who had lent her money began demanding repayment. The stress led to a confrontation with her friend, resulting in Akivembe's arrest when she visited her friend’s house under the pretext of signing some documents.
During the ensuing investigations, it became clear that Akivembe had been talking to her friend all along, who had been posing as the man.
The phone number Akivembe had been contacting was foreign, adding another layer of deceit to the intricate scam. She was devastated to learn that her friend, someone she considered almost like family, had orchestrated the entire fraud.
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