TrustScore - community powered , reputation checks for online sellers.
by Gerald Njakai
Millions of transactions in Kenya and across East Africa happen through informal online sales whatsapp groups, Instagram shops, Facebook Marketplace, and Twitter/X sellers often paid for upfront via M-Pesa or bank transfer before goods are delivered. Unlike formal e-commerce platforms, these sellers have no verified identity, reviews, or recourse system. Buyers, especially first time online shoppers, students, and small scale traders, have no reliable way to check whether a seller's phone number or handle has a history of fraud before sending payment. This information asymmetry is exploited constantly: fake online shops, job scam recruiters, and one-time sellers who disappear after payment are common, and by the time one victim reports it, dozens more have already been defrauded using the same number or handle. There is currently no shared, easily searchable record connecting a phone number/handle across platforms to prior scam reports.