What Safaricom says you should do during M-Pesa reversals to avoid getting scammed
By Ascah Mwango, July 10, 2026Mobile money security has stepped into the spotlight as telecommunications titan Safaricom issues a definitive blueprint on how to handle accidental transaction claims.
With millions of standard financial transactions processed on the M-Pesa platform daily, fraudsters have developed highly deceptive tactics to exploit innocent citizens.
To counter this, Safaricom has explicitly stated that users should never withdraw, spend, or manually send back money received by mistake.
Instead, you should always rely on official, system-integrated channels to reverse it.
Adhering to this protocol protects your balance from sophisticated fraud schemes and ensures the funds return legally to the sender without putting your personal profile at risk.
To keep your hard-earned cash safe, Safaricom mandates a strict three-step protective routine whenever you receive a surprise financial notification.
1. Check your balance first
The first rule of mobile wallet safety is absolute verification.
Senders attempting to con you will frequently use a basic phone number to send an edited SMS that perfectly mimics a standard M-Pesa receipt, immediately followed by an urgent phone call claiming they are in a high-stress medical or family crisis.
Safaricom warns that you must never trust a call or a standard text message from a stranger claiming they sent money.
Before taking any action or responding to panicking callers, always check your actual M-Pesa account balance directly via the official M-Pesa ledger SMS or the interactive app to confirm the funds have truly arrived in your account.
2. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) reversal
If your balance check proves that the money is genuinely sitting in your wallet, you do not need to engage in lengthy phone calls or wait around for the sender to track it down.
You hold the power to return the money safely yourself without any transaction charges using Safaricom’s official self-service protocols.
If the money is genuinely in your wallet, you do not need to wait for the sender.
You can return it safely yourself using these methods:
Via SMS: Forward the original M-Pesa transaction notification message to the number 456.
Via the App: Open the App: Launch My OneApp on your device.
View Statement: Navigate to the M-Pesa tab and tap on your Transaction History or statement.
Select the Transaction: Find and tap on the specific erroneous transaction you want to reverse.
Request Reversal: Tap the “Reverse transaction” icon or link attached to that transaction.
State the Reason: Select your reason for the reversal (e.g., wrong number or wrong amount) and submit it
Via USSD: Dial *234#, navigate to “My Account”, and select “Reverse Transaction”.
3. Safaricom-initiated reversal
When the sender officially reports the error to customer support, Safaricom will send you an automated text alert stating that a reversal has been initiated, temporarily holding the disputed amount.
If prompted by the security system to officially confirm that you do not own the money, simply forward that specific system notification message back to 456 to authorize the system to complete the process.
4. Never send it manually
If you use the ordinary “Send Money” option to return mistakenly sent cash, you will be hit with regular transaction fees out of your own pocket.
Worse, you risk falling victim to “double-reversal” scams where fraudsters trick you into sending cash manually before triggering an official system reversal on the original amount, effectively stealing your money.
5. Ignore agent instructions
Safaricom customer care will never call you to demand that you physically go to an M-Pesa agent outlet to process a reversal.
If a caller claims to be an agent or customer care representative and asks you to do this, hang up immediately.
This is a dangerous social engineering trap designed to defraud the local agent using your phone line.
6. The official number
To spot impersonators immediately, remember that Safaricom will only ever contact you via phone call using their one and only official corporate number: 0722000000.
Any other number claiming to represent the telco hierarchy is an absolute fraud.