Sometimes, be coldhearted...

young-boss-karin(69)

Published in

LeoFinance

Words

511

Reading

3 min

Listen

Play

During class today, a lady in our class told us she had a story to tell about a scam she had pretty much fallen into over the past 2 days.

I initially expected her to tell the usual details of being called by a random number claiming to be a banker, requesting her ATM card details for maintenance, but the story was different.

Apparently, she was contacted by a random number telling her they had mistakenly sent her some airtime to her phone and they needed it back urgently. She made the transfer a number of times, but the person kept refusing to accept they had seen it.

She was then requested to send the airtime back through her account and that's when she realized she was on the verge of becoming a possible victim of a scam.

This might come off as weird if you're not Nigerian. However, I've been in a similar situation where I almost got accused of something I know absolutely nothing about through a call I received.

How it works

In a situation where an individual finds themselves on the run from the police or suspected of certain crimes, they do this thing where they make contacts in order to implicate individuals who know absolutely nothing about their actions.

In my situation, I got called by an old Highschool classmate I haven't spoken to in years. He told me he was in a tight spot and needed my help for some urgent money. I didn't have any so I told him I would be unable to assist.

The conversation ended and a few days later, I got a text message from a police officer telling me I was one of the last people contacted by that individual. He was on the run and they needed me to respond in case I had any information on his whereabouts.

Recently, I think sometime in August, I got a call from him telling me I was his last hope. Said he needed some money again and he literally kept calling my phone for the entire day. I ignored him.

Why I'm so certain it's a scam?

Right after both incidents, I got calls from some other old Highschool classmates telling me he had contacted them in the same manner. They all refused to help him and were scared coz the situation just seemed too suspicious.

A possible norm?

I don't know how many other people have these encounters here in Nigeria but I guess it's gradually becoming a norm. I currently have a friend going through a police case for a situation he knows absolutely nothing about.

It's absurd how the refusal to render financial aid could actually be your saving grace. While this seems like a selfish angle to study the situation, it feels like the most accurate.