Kenya Airways Warns Of Fake Captain Passing Around Business Cards

In a scene akin to “Catch Me If You Can” I came across a social media post from Kenya Airways just now, warning the public about an impostor who poses as a Kenya Airways captain, passing around business cards.

The individual claims to be a Boeing 767 captain with the name of James Mwangi although the airline doesn’t even have any Boeing 767’s in their fleet.

There might be many reasons why someone would think of passing around a fake business card or assuming a role, and the 1960s, where one could actual crew benefits with a uniform and business card, are obviously over.

I became aware of this from this post on X:

Please be aware of a fake captain by the name James Mwangi issuing business cards and falsely claiming to be a Kenya Airways employee. This individual is NOT associated with us.

For accurate information about Kenya Airways and our employees, always rely on our official… pic.twitter.com/e0tcukuw0w

— Kenya Airways (@KenyaAirways) January 16, 2025

As I already mentioned, Kenya Airways doesn’t have any B767, and the business card also lists a Gmail address rather than a legitimate corporate email (although I see this quite frequently in Asia and Africa).

What might be the reason to do something like this?

Well, there are many reasons. Either the person circulating these simply likes to play pilot and enjoy the attention it still commands (no idea why, in 2025 being a pilot isn’t exactly fancy anymore – these guys have a tough life compared to many other jobs). I wonder if he actually wears a uniform too!?

Maybe he likes to pick up ladies at the bar and has these cards printed up to impress his dates or chance encounters.

Or, in the worst case, he’s planning to use the company name for some kind of scam, in which case there would be a material victim at the end of this.

Conclusion

I’m not sure what the reason behind all this is. It might be somewhat innocent but it’s still not in the interest of the company. I wonder how they became aware of this. Did James engage in some questionable conduct and whoever got his business card then contacted Kenya Airways?

If you come across “Captain James Mwangi” from Kenya Airways make sure you ask him about his life as a 767 pilot. Of course, ask him when the airline is actually flying 767s to blow his cover at some point.

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