Media personality Willis Raburu has successfully recovered his missing Samsung Galaxy Fold, days after making a public appeal for help.
Raburu confirmed the good news on Facebook, thanking Kenyans and the police for their quick action and support.
“We found the phone! Thank you to all the social media DCI who helped. We found his home, found him, his job, and spoke to his family all because of your help,” he wrote.
The TV host had earlier revealed that his high-end smartphone had gone missing while at at Furaha Fest, an event he was an organizer, thanks to an app installed on the device — CrookCatcher — the phone secretly captured photos of the person handling it.
These images automatically uploaded to Raburu’s cloud storage, giving him a vital lead.
Raburu shared the pictures online, asking his followers to help identify the individual. The post quickly spread across social media, turning into a massive crowdsourced search effort.
With help from members of the public, Raburu traced the man in possession of the phone. The search led to his home and workplace, with the assistance of officers from the Kibera Police Station and Raburu’s security team.
The journalist later revealed that another phone had initially been recovered but turned out not to be his. Eventually, his Samsung Galaxy Fold was located.
Raburu said they chose not to press charges against the suspect, identified only as Mr B, but gave him a stern warning.
“We decided not to press charges but have let him go with a warning. Whatever happens from here to Mr B should he resort to his old ways is on him,” Raburu added.
He thanked everyone who contributed to the recovery effort, saying the success showed the power of social media and community action.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold is one of the most advanced smartphones on the market, retailing for over Ksh 200,000. Its foldable screen and high-performance features make it a sought-after gadget and a major loss if stolen.
Raburu’s experience has sparked renewed interest in smartphone security and tracking tools.
Tips to protect your device is to Install anti-theft apps like CrookCatcher or Find My Device, regularly back up important files to the cloud, enable biometric or password locks and report stolen phones immediately to the police and network providers.
This case highlights how quickly digital communities can mobilise to solve real-world problems. In just a few days, Raburu’s post turned a lost phone into a nationwide search and a successful recovery story.
