Criminals seem to have devised an effective system of passing down knowledge and expertise from one generation to the next, an Infotrak Kenya report has revealed.
While criminal tricks virtually remain the same, they are fine-tuned when victims catch on. New tricks are also devised and old ones revisited, adds the article published on http://www.infotrakresearch.com
Police spokesperson Charles Owino is in agreement with the findings of the research firm.
“It’s true that criminals are always devising new techniques, although others have been in use for some time, says Owino.
Here are some of tricks you should be wary of during this festive season, when everyone is looking for a kill to carry see them through the dry January month:
1. Thief on wheels
On September 1, Michael Mwananzivu, a city company director, had his expensive phone snatched on Haile Selassie Avenue by one Stephen Odera who was on a wheelchair. Mwananzivu was stuck in traffic when the disabled man knocked on his car window.
But when Mwananzivu lowered the window, Odera snatched the Samsung Galaxy phone worth Sh70,000 and wheeled away as another man blocked him in an attempt to buy time. Odera was later arrested and arraigned in Makadara court. The case will be heard early next year.
2. Fender bender
Robbers employ this technique by stopping suddenly in front of their target’s vehicle on the roads, with the hope that the unsuspecting motorist will ram into them from behind. They will jump out of their vehicle in mock anger, pretending to inspect the damage, only to turn on and rob the apologetic victim!
3. Bump and rob
This involves criminals bumping the rear of a targeted motorist’s car then wait for the driver to step out to inspect the damage. That is when they strike and rob the agitated driver.
At times, they use motorbikes because they are convenient means to get away from the scene of crime and they can easily weave through traffic. This was very common between September and October this year. According to Owino, at least 10 people were robbed in this fashion in the last two weeks of September.
4. The ‘Good Samaritan’
In yet another crafty plan, the robbers pretend to signal their targets to help with a car problem. Most of the time, they point to the tyre, pretending they have a puncture. Unknown to the soon-to-be-victims, they’ll be walking it a well-laid trap.
5. ‘Waiganjo’ law enforcers
In this instance, robbers masquerade as cops. They mostly target motorists on less-used roads where they pretend to man traffic. They will take their time to stop and rob motorists without a care in the world. Motorists who travel alone in their cars are more vulnerable. They also target the elderly, as well as expectant women who can’t put up a fight.
Some pretend to be county askaris or traffic police, and even ‘arrest’ motorists for committing traffic offences. They take the ‘offending’ drivers to non-existent ‘police stations’, where they rob and dump them.
6. Damsel in distress
Some thugs dangle women — pregnant ones at that — to win the sympathy of motorists whom they ‘request’ for a ride to the nearby maternity hospital. The expectant woman will always appear to be stranded on the road.
She flags down her target, only for a whole ‘football team’ of crooks to emerge from the nearby bush when the driver comes to a halt.
7. Drama festival
Next time you approach what appears to be the scene of an accident — with an unconscious person lying on the ground or a critically ill child lying on the edge of the road besides a distraught mother — be careful, very careful. It could all be choreographed and the moment you screech your vehicle to a stop and race out to the rescue, you might find the cold barrel of a gun pressing against your ribs.
The same goes for those who attend funerals. If you are part of the crowd that is tearfully sending off a loved one, and you hear the announcement, “Could the driver of car number KCC XXXX please move his car because he is blocking another motorist,” don’t be in a rush to move your car. You could be walking into an ambush.
8. Pothole menace
A bad road ‘decorated’ with galleys and boulders is terrible for your shocks, but also a gold mine for armed and dangerous criminals. The moment you slow down to navigate the potholes, you might discover you have been ambushed when a band of hoodlums pop out waving guns. Such thugs usually operate at night and when a target slows down, they jump onto the road, guns trained on the victim.
9. Barriers
Robbers can also erect barriers on roads, particularly logs or boulders, and pounce when motorists slow down. This method was reported along the Southern the Bypass. In some cases, they place spikes on the road to deflate motorists’ tyres then pounce.
10. Mchele on the move
Some thugs turn into hawkers, especially when there is heavy traffic. When a gullible motorist enticed by their wares stops, they are drugged and their vehicles commandeered before they get dumped in remote areas in the outskirts of the city.
Some will hit the windscreens with eggs to blur drivers’ visibility. Things get worse when the motorists attempt to swipe the mess away with wipers as this results in a milky coat that completely blocks visibility, forcing them to stop...and then a car packed with robbers just happens in the scene!
Owino told The Nairobian that motorists should be vigilant and use common sense when strangers, or other motorists attempt to stop them.
“Stopping is often a reflex action, but we advise motorists, especially at night, to lock their doors and windows and ignore those attempting to persuade them to stop,” cautioned Owino.
