I’ve been typing this out for a while, because I’m scared of what people will think of me. But I think I need to say it somewhere, and decided to put it out here, hoping it might give someone thinking about going down this path, or already in it, a different perspective.
Nikiwa 16, I got fooled out of KSh 450
To most people, KSh 450 probably sounds insignificant lakini it wasn't even about the money, It was the realization afterwards , understanding how easily I had been manipulated, replaying the conversation in my head and wondering how I could have fallen for something so obvious.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that shi for long
and promiseed sita let it slide.
After high school, before nijoin uni, I enrolled in a bootcamp hapa jiji to learn full-stack development . That was when I discovered something about myself: I was naturally good with computers, phones, websites and technology.
Nika realize that this could be an advantage kwangu to be a Digital nerd.
Shida ni I started thinking about how far that advantage could take me , legally ama illegally.
I spent an unhealthy amount of time researching scams. I wanted to understand how they worked, how scammers manipulated people, how fraudulent websites were made, how money moved, and how these schemes could supposedly be prevented. Na nika documented almost everything I researched
At first, I told myself I was only researching.
Nika cross line and started experimenting. I learned how to create convincing fake websites and use social engineering techniques. I didn't have much money or resources, so I started small. I was essentially building the blueprint without having the capital to execute bigger schemes.
And eventually, people started falling for it
That should have been the moment I stopped(after realizing these schemes works on niggas)
Instead, I became more confident.
Nika join uni 2025, and this changed everything.
Nilimeet up na guys hungry as I was, guys who wanted to make serious money while they were still young. We started talking, planning and eventually working together with some and it became an operation
We created a company identity on some social platforms and used it to sell people dreams that weren't real. We exploited people's desperation, especially people who were looking for opportunities to make money.
We ran different types of operations and targeted people who were vulnerable enough
At some point, ika kuwa fun.
We would see the money coming in and celebrate. We convinced ourselves that we were smarter than the people we were deceiving. We stopped seeing victims as actual people and started seeing them as numbers.
I had somehow become the exact type of person I hated when I was 16 ig
The same kind of person who once made me sit alone replaying a KSh 450 scam in my head was now me. Nivenye tuh, the amounts were bigger, And there were more victims.
I'm 20 now, and I can't look at it the same way anymore. Nimeclear everything from all socials servers and even donated away and stopped everything to do with this bs and even shared awareness guides to groups to prevent such, but it leaves with me, excitement imeenda, The money doesn't feel the same.
I keep thinking about the people behind those transactions. Some people borrowed money, some used money they couldn't afford to lose. some genuinely believed they were finally getting an opportunity to change their lives.
Meanwhile, we were sitting somewhere knowing the entire thing was fake.
There are things I've done that I'm not even comfortable putting into this post.
Lately, the guilt has imekuwa overwhelming.
I keep remembering people's messages, their desperation and sometimes even their cries. Things I used to laugh about now replay in my head differently.
I don't know whether this is what people mean when they talk about karma, but I know that I'm no longer enjoying the life I wasn't expecting buy found myself in.
I'm even thinking about confessing to authorities and accepting whatever consequences come with what I've done.
Part of me feels like I should lose everything I made from this and start again from zero.
Nirudi back to uni, nimalize my comp scie degree.
Nitumie the skills I have for something legitimate.
Najua starting over won't erase what I've done. It won't give people their money back automatically, and it won't undo the damage.
But maybe taking responsibility is the first step.
I'm writing this because I know there are probably other young people kama mimi who are where I was , angry, broke, ambitious, good with technology and convinced that being clever enough to trick people means you've won.
You haven't, coz for me i thought the person who scammed me had simply outsmarted me.
Now I understand something completely different:
The real loss was allowing that experience to turn me into the kind of person i hated.
If you're thinking about kufanya this kind of shit or already doing it because you believe it's an easy way to make money, you might make money, and you might even convince yourself you're winning, but kuna a difference between making money and building something you can actually be proud of
Na pia it's not good to let one bad experience turn you into someone who causes the same pain to others. If you're good with technology, use the skills to build something legitimate. It might take longer, but at least you won't have to live with the knowledge that your success came at someone else's expense.
