Sometime ago in a large Telegram group where I belong, someone dropped a short message: $500 and $1000 up for grabs, DM.
I messaged him immediately, and asked how much he was selling a dollar.
He said N745, and I priced N700. 'I need up to $2000,' I added.
He agreed, and said that he was going to oblige me my rate because he needed naira urgently. I was surprised.
How to proceed?
He said I'd send him N700,000 i.e. 50% of the agreed amount, then he'd wire me the total dollar equivalent of $2000. I kept quiet.
He began to call me on Telegram. It was 11.30 pm! I declined his call three times, and told him it was too late to receive a call.
'Where are you?' I asked. He said Port Harcourt.
When he saw that I wasn't forthcoming, he suggested we use a platform that offered escrow services.
Being familiar with Alibaba Trade Assurance and their escrow services, I accepted. He quickly added me to another Telegram group.
For those who may not understand how escrow services work, let me explain.
An escrow is money held in trust by a neutral third party for two parties involved in a business deal in which trust is an issue.
Example, if you use Alibaba Trade Assurance to pay for goods in China, that money is held by Alibaba until you've received your goods and certified them okay before it's released to the supplier.
Now, I wanted to know the credentials of the group and that of the third party who happened to be the admin.
First, there were 360 members in the group, with a pinned message in which the admin warns all participants in the most severe, blood-chilling terms to be careful to avoid being defrauded.
He warned that all conversations between all parties must be carried out in the group for every one of the 360 members to witness, and that he charged N500 for all monies paid into his account as escrow.
Of course, calculations of every exchange and the receipts of all monies paid to the admin must be made available in the group.
I scrolled through the messages and pictures in the group to get a peek into the history of transactions.
I saw many receipts and joyful acknowledgements of payments between parties. Everyone is happy. What a wonderful group!
But I still had my doubts. I had to run a check on the admin's profile. His phone number was hidden, same as that of my guy who wanted to sell me dollars.
On Telegram, anyone can bear any strange name and hide their phone numbers depending on what motive they have.
The so-called admin was neither a government agency nor a person known to me. He was simply an 'Abubakar' screaming warnings to assert integrity.
My guy whose ID was as plain as 'S S' had, of course, prodded me repeatedly to re-initiate the chat we had in private in the group for the sake of openness. I had to play along.
I posted my offer and he, again, accepted, and asked me to publish the calculations, which I did. N1.4M.
As soon as I published the amount, a private message came in from someone in the group.
He said, 'Bro, do you want to buy dollar from this group? Just no try am. Na scam. Once the admin confirms your money, they kick you out and block you.
'They scammed me but forgot to kick me out. I intentionally didn't leave the group...'
I thanked him for confirming my suspicion, and told him my guy's desperation outright spooky.
'Just ask him "Why did you scam my friend, and see what will happen",' the messenger advised.
I went back to the group, and simply announced that I'd like to continue with the transaction the following day.
Fiaam! That was how everything about the group vanished. My guy blocked me instantly.
I told the messenger I could no longer find the group, and he sent me a screenshot of my excommunication.
'So far tonight, I've stopped them from scamming 11 people! They won't find out what's hit them... I'll keep being here,' he concluded.
This is how Nigerian Yahoo boys ruin lives and answer 'Odogwu' in the outer society.
This group is a vast network of fraudsters operating on the same rob-and-throw-out principle as one-chance bus.
They take advantage of the scarcity of forex in Nigeria, and cripple businesspeople and those desperate to leave the country.
I have told this story for your enlightenment and security. I urge you to read and share it.
The days are evil, so, we must be more wakeful than the fish to detect the multifarious dimensions of internet fraud in Nigeria.
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