Be really careful with the tour company/operator recommendations here

that M.Pesa system seems an unsafe way to do business for sure -

no way to see if the travel company or person even received the money - no tracking or receipt

is is possible the M.Pensa agent simply sent the money to one of their own accounts ... or someone on the receiving end simply pocketed the money realizing there was nothing that could be done about it anyway ? The possibilities seem endless as there is no accountability for the money.

...thanks for the warning

I'm very sorra what happened to you, but a little bit of tracking is possible. We pay almost all of our bills by M-Pesa, even salaries to my wifes farm workers 400 kms away. But i agree, one of the problems is, when you send the money just to a phone number, you only get the name of the person, to whom you send the money. And when you do it not from your phone, then only the agent get the record.
It is in my opinion totally impossible, that the agent send it to his or her own pocket, because if this comes out, it would destroy the whole system, so the companies look very careful to it. The real problem is, that if you sen dmoney to a phone number, you only have the number and the registered name. But it is not connected to a special address, eventhough now the government forced the companies, to register all lines new. Vodacom now even makes a photo from the one who registers and a photo of the ID.
I send you later a PM, because I'm very interested, what happened and how. Maybe there is a way to track the person, because people like this destroy the already bad season. I go later to my Vodacom shop to find out what is possible. And to tell you in advance, yes my wife organizes safaris (because sometimes when you give advise, people immidiately shout be careful, TO).

Johannes

No, the M-Pesa agent didn't pocket the money. The person who set me up did. Because when you send money, a message will show on the phone the name of the receiver, and it was the same name I had been directed to send money to. And after it was sent, I got a call from the guy who set me up saying he received the money. The money I sent was claimed to be used for paying park entry fees, because he said he had to buy it in advance (which I found out later to be a lie, park entry permit is purchased when you enter because it records the time of entry). But when I join the group, the tourguide told me they didn't receive anything, so I had to pay the fees at the park again. Ngorogoro was worse, they do not accept cash, we were asked for 5000Tsh bribe for them to accept cash.
The scam is so carefully carried out, he even had a fake website with its own inquiries email address mimicking the company name of a very well -established tour operator based in Moshi.
He gave me email addresses of people who were claimed to be foreigners looking for others to join their group, but I feel all those contacts and names are created by the same guy, who actually contacted me by private message and a public post here (after seeing my post about joining a group or company recommendations). I emailed those "foreigner friends" but no one replied, except the fake tour company that was recommended by himself.

Sorry for all these problems. I am interested to know because I am going there for the Ngorongoro crater one week trek and safari and not yet booked. It seems very strange to me because every tour operator I contact, I am asked to send a deposit into their official bank accounts. I have never heard of this M-PESA. How much deposit did you send by M-PESA or you sent all money agreed and then you were charged entrance fees? How many days did you book and how many days did you go with the group you are saying that you joined!

Bongolander!
Your wife organize safaris? Please PM me. Have she ever receive the deposit through M-PESA? Because the M-PESA you are talking about is to pay wages to your farm workers staying 400km away. You didn't mention if sometimes tourists send deposits through M-PESA.

My lines about M-Pesa were as response to #1. I wanted to show, that M-Pesa is safe, no agent ever will steel the money, and I'm sure, if this would happen, the person will get compensated. This system is so important for Tanzania, that no company will let it ruined. From flight tickets to power bills, Security companies, freight forwarders, name it and I will tell it.
To pay safari down payments by M-Pesa is really very uncommon, because payments have do be done in USD, but M-Pesa is only TSh. A down payment is necessary, because the TO has to buy in advance at least the food and if the customer want to be sure that she or he is not cheated, then the TO has to go with clients to the bank to load the cards for the parks. Because to do this in advance is nowadays not recommendable, because if there is a non show, the cards are loaded and he don't get the money back. Only on the next safari.
As my wife has the safaris mostly from people outside TZ, special from German speaking countries, the deposit is sent to a European bank account, but normally customers like to pay the whole safari in advance, not to travel with big money. She never got up to now down payments by M-Pesa or the whole safari paid in this way. I think she will refuse. A small down payment may be, but one can go to a local bank and pay to the bank account, too uncomfortable to get a safari paid by M-Pesa.
I hope this makes my post understandable.

Johannes

Bongolander!
Thank you for your great information!
Does your wife arrange Ngorongoro Crater highlands walking safaris? We are from the USA and planning to do that starting any day from 8--10th June. We have posted on trip advisor about our incoming trip, please have a look.
Regarding M-PESA transaction I can understand you as you said that it is uncommon as I think.
Emerald_gee!
I don't understand you because you don't explain how were you cheated and how much money did you send by M-PESA. I can see that you joined a group, so you had a safari. You didn't answer my post of yesterday when I asked you to help our travel community"me included" by telling us whether you paid the full amount for safari and then charged to pay the entry fees? I also wonder why you want to help our travel community through only private message instead of being open to everybody?

Hi isabela,

I saw very well your post in TA, unfortunately, normally I'm not so much involved in touting (sometimes very rare I do when it is a special task). I know what you want to do, up to now I want to wait for m wife to ask her, if she likes to write you. She is at present in a plane from Berlin via Istanbul to Kilimanjaro. She is the one who makes decisions, I like only like to give answers, if someone likes to know things, which is difficult to answer for normal travellers, but better known by people who live here. Because I like this country and the people, and I want for all travellers, who visit our beautiful landscapes, to have the least problems.

Johannes

I was asked to send money by M-Pesa because I was volunteering in a small village without any banks. The person who set me up requested a deposit of $240USD at first, for which I felt was a lot of money to be sent without receipt. Then he said, please send at least the Ngorogoro park entry in order to join me with the group, and added"No one will kill its business for 80USD" after he gave me instructions to exchange USD to Tsh and send money by M-Pesa. The village could not even exchange USD, I had to travel 30km out on dirt road to find a bank that exchanges foreign currency. He once told me they have USD bank account, so I asked to send USD to that account when I was at the bank, because sending USD through that bank was free of service charge. But at that last minute, he insisted on sending through M-Pesa because he didn't have his USD Account number handy. At this point I just wanted to get the transaction done quickly so I can join the group the next day, so I sent Tsh ca sh by M-Pesa.
The point of my terrible experience is to warn travelers, please, double or even triple check the person who claims they have a group and welcome you to join. Google whatever website or information they provide, because I totally failed doing that and got set up. Double check the background and post history of members post ing here as well, I strongly advise against trusting everything thrown at you.