How can I find out who a Kenyan phone number belongs to?
You can't get the owner's identity from Safaricom, but you can see clues: the name shown when you start an M-Pesa transfer (without completing it), a search of the number online, and whether it appears in scam reports.
Scammers often use lines registered in someone else's name, so even a name doesn't tell you who is really behind the number. What helps more is whether others have reported it.
Veritaza checks whether the number appears on scam lists, whether it's virtual and which country it's from, and whether other people have already checked it.
What you can do
- Search the number online in quotes, with and without +254.
- Search it together with the word "scam".
- Compare the M-Pesa name with the name the person gave you.
- Check it with Veritaza.
- Never call back numbers that pressure you to pay.
Frequently asked questions
- The M-Pesa name is different from the name they told me. Is that a warning sign?
- It can be. Ask why. Scammers often use lines and accounts in other people's names.
Want to know if there are warning signs about the person you're chatting to? Veritaza checks the photos, the messages, the number, the email address, the name and the ID document, for KSh 300.
Check a person