This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
June 27, 2020 - The Kenyan betting industry has been marred by scandals and unscrupulous practices, with Lotto Kenya being the latest to face allegations of scamming clients.
According to an anonymous source, Lotto Kenya has devised a new way to scam Kenyans who gamble using their Web or SMS number 79007. The source claims that the company is sending random numbers to clients who deposit money into their accounts, making it impossible for them to win.
“Firstly, you deposit 50 Bob to their account through Safaricom, which charges 5 Bob for every fifty Bob you deposit. Then, you choose a number between 1-49 and a bonus number between 1-9. However, the norm has changed, and if you happen to deposit the said amount, they are now sending you random numbers. If you SMS your own numbers, you get different numbers,” the source revealed.
The government has repeatedly warned Kenyans to be wary of unscrupulous organizations, especially in the gambling industry. This warning comes after several cases of young men committing suicide due to their inability to repay loans borrowed to finance their gambling habits.
One such case was reported in Eldoret in August 2016, where a man committed suicide after staking Sh45,000, which later became a loss. Another case was reported in the same town, where a man was left by his wife after he staked Sh500,000, a loan they had taken from a local bank.
The Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) has also acknowledged that the 1966 law governing the Kenyan betting industry is outdated, leaving the youth exposed to the negative impact of betting without adequate legal protection.
Furthermore, an article by the Daily Nation showed that gamblers staked more than Sh30 billion in a single month in 2019, highlighting the alarming rate at which Kenyans are losing money to the betting industry.
