A couple of years ago, around 2019, a message came exactly from my friend's number. And that was exactly what made it convincing. Not a strange number or link or email. His WhatsApp number, his profile picture, and his style of messaging. He told me that he needs my help because he is stranded and he is in need of four thousand naira. My spirit shifted a bit because he has never asked me for such, so I nearly sent the money.
Because at that moment I didn't want to doubt my friend of many years, which made it look like doubting him felt more uncomfortable than losing the money he asked for.
And to me, I feel that is where these scammers are smarter than some people. They will never target our phone first. Their target is basically our emotions. They study our level of trust in our relationship, and that is what they target to enter us. In a place like here, where someone can call me “brotherly” or “my blood,” it can activate a loyalty reflex almost automatically, and that is exactly a specific weakness they can easily feed on because they can easily find it.
And from what I feel, the most dangerous scam is not the usual fake bank alert we see today or the lottery message we receive on our phone. It is the compromised account of the person I actually care about, someone whose style of chatting and replying the scammer has mastered before reaching out. Because, assuming it is from a strange number, our guard will increase. That is exactly the gap they step into.
And what I have been doing lately is that I call after seeing such a message. I won't reply. I just pick up my phone and call that person directly to confirm the message and hear if it's their voice to know what is going on. Most people will never do this because they don't want to sound or look too forward by accusing their friends. And that hesitation to call is precisely what gets exploited.
Urgency is the weapon they usually use. And the moment we fall for that, we start rushing. We are falling gradually into their hands, and before we know it, they win while we lose.
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