How to easily ensure that you have a genuine phone

Communications Authority of Kenya has set up messaging service for verification of genuine mobile phones in Kenya.

Acting Director-General Mercy Wanjau said in a notice on Tuesday that to use the service, one is required to dial *#06# on the mobile phone to display the international mobile equipment identifier number of the mobile phone.

You are then required to note down the displayed IMEI number and send an SMS text message to shortcode 1555.

"Please note that the SMS will not attract any charge," Wanjau said.

Once you send the message, you will receive an SMS response from the authority displaying details of the mobile phone including the make and the model.

If the details displayed in the SMS message are the same as those of the mobile phone used to send the text message and or the one intended to be purchased then it is genuine.

If the displayed details do not match then the mobile phone used to send the SMS or intended to be purchased is not genuine.

Wanjau said counterfeit phone devices provide poor quality of service and experience and pose a major threat to personal health and national security.

"..Such cases should be reported to the authority," she added.

Last year, counterfeit Samsung phones and other accessories estimated to be worth more than Sh10 million were seized in a sting operation.

Acting on a tip-off, Anti-Counterfeit Agency inspectors descended on seven mobile phone shops in downtown Nairobi along Mfangano Street and seized 213 fake phones.