Cyber criminals target visitors to Kenya in visa scam

Nation Media Group

Two years after Kenya introduced online visa applications, cyber criminals are ripping off potential visitors of millions of shillings through copycat websites.

Two fake websites and an e-mail account are being used to hoodwink visitors applying for Kenyan visas online. The websites claim to be intermediaries for visa application, and charge up to three times the official rate of $50 per person.

“The embassy wishes to inform all clients of the existence of the scam website http://www.kenya-evisa-online.com, which is overcharging customers $120 for normal cases that take three working days to process, and $130 for urgent cases that are processed within one day.
“All clients are warned not to submit any application through this scam website. The government of Kenya will not be responsible for any loss of revenue and unnecessary extra expenditure incurred through that website,” the embassies say in their advisories.
The fake sites use Kenya’s official e-visa logo on their link and prominently display the country’s flag at the top of the page. Other features adopted include a link to the official government website at the top (visit-gov website) to make the website look authentic.