Greetings to hivers and learners 🥰💕.
At this point in my life with the stories of scammers, it will be once beaten, twice shy just like the popular musician 👨🎤 Bob Marley sang in one of his all time Hits. I mean, there will always be that one time experience in everything that happens to us in life. And I think the first experience will alway a lesson to us.
The first time I encounter scammer experience was in 2017, with the then noted M&M that came in the form of a saving house 🏡 where you deposit some certain amount of money 💰 and gets double of the amount at the end of the month or every other thirty (30) days. And with how interesting the story sounded when a friend introduced them to me, I decided to try my luck by depositing so certain amount of money after registration. But how unlucky I was, because that very month I registered was the month M&M entered voice mail, catering away millions of money 💰 belonging to large number of people. This is how I also lost my savings that I wanted to turn over and grow.
And this being my first scammer experience became a planted alert 🚨 warning in my head and which I have been carrying in mind and will not allow any room for anyone to scam me nor those around me. I made sure to tell everyone around me this story so that they can always stay focused and avoid had I known situation.
Sometimes last year my daughter needed to open an account with First Bank because we changed location and her GTB branch is far away. And immediately she went to the bank to do her biometrics and her account number sent to her after 24 hours, a number called her the next day asking her if she is so, so person? When she admitted that she is. The person mentioned a name, saying he is calling from First Bank Customer Care Services. That her ATM is ready, but that she needs to deposit 💵 some certain amount of money in her account before she can collect the ATM.
She immediately alerted me with the information, telling me she does not know what is going on because she has not even registered for an ATM Card. I told her not to pick the persons call anymore because I suspect the person must be a scammer. The person might be either an ex-staff of First Bank or currently still working with First Bank.
And how persistent can this scammers be? This guy continued calling till the next day. And after a day or two , he stoped calling. I wondered what nerve this people got to be doing what they are doing. And daughter mentioned we should report to the bank. I told her that the bank has constantly continued to warn their customers not to deal with anyone in anyway calling or asking for information. Don’t reveal or click any link sent in any format. So you don’t need to go doing any stress of a kind.
Recently, I encountered another scammer through my WhatsApp. A cousin’s WhatsApp was hacked few weeks ago, and the hacker went on to start texting some selected numbers he saw in my cousin’s phone. I just woke up one morning in the previous week to see a message sent by my cousin WhatsApp contact, asking me to please send some money to him. That he has and emergency that requires urgent solution. I looked at the tone of message and was surprised because I know how my cousin and I interact. This is not my cousin texting me here I said to myself. I completely ignore the message, waiting to see if my cousin will call.
After about an hour or two, another cousin of mine called me from Mali 🇲🇱. Saying that he received a message from our cousin, asking for money. But that he suspects the tone of the message. That it appears our cousin’s WhatsApp has been hacked. This is when I mentioned to him that I received the same message also. We agreed then that I should call my cousin to confirm. And when I reached out to my cousin, he said they hacked his WhatsApp previous day. That hundreds of people are calling and saying the same thing.
I think its time we know when scammers are at it again. The tone, way of addressing, message format and others will always prove who we are relating with. Be at alert 🚨, especially as the year is coming to an end.
This is my response to the #hiveleaners featured content for week 240, edition 01.
Thanks for visiting and reading friends 🥰💕
Best Regards 
@sunshine29 🧡
Sourced images are credited