A lot of people explore the various
opportunities that are available in Lagos which usually cuts across
getting a job or engaging in a business. Some people however have
perfected the art of duping and scamming people in the city. The more
people are trying to avoid getting caught in the web of scammers, the
more intelligent they get. The scam, popularly called 419 which is a
section of the Nigerian constitution that deals with fraud is very
rampant in Lagos and you need to be smart not to fall for them.
Here are 10 Lagos 419 tricks you must be wary of.
Visa Lottery
The desire to travel out of Nigeria in search of greener pasture is a
weakness which fraudsters prey on. Visa lottery is one of the
opportunities available to travel to America and Europe. These
fraudsters open fake websites or adverts for Visa openings asking people
to apply and pay a token. The string of payment begins when they inform
you that you are close to securing a visa to the country of your
choice. If you are not careful, you might end up paying more money than
you would have if you were following the due process to secure a visa.
At the end, the 419ers don’t even have any visa to provide.
Money Doubling
This trick involves being asked to provide any amount of money with
the promise that the money would be doubled. The elaborate drama
involves the supposed money doubler ‘successfully’ doubling the money
provided by random persons. The idea is to get you interested especially
if you are the greedy type. If you put in a little money and you get
double the amount, you are likely to try with a bigger sum which is when
you will be scammed.
Prophet Of Doom
This scheme is meant to prey on the weakness of those who subscribe
to religion. These fraudsters are aware that most people in Lagos
believe what they are told by religious leaders and thus pretend to be
one. The fake prophet approaches and tells you he can see through some
imaginary means that you have a spiritual problem and randomly mentions
one or two problems you might be going through. He is likely to tell you
that your great grandmother is responsible for your woes and he alone
has to key to unlocking the bondage. If you believe him, you are likely
to spiral down a tunnel of lies.
Small Investment; Big Reward
Investments, especially in Lagos is expected to yield big financial
rewards but you should be wary of the ones were little is known about
the ‘business’ except that you are only asked to provide some money and
wait for your money to grow. The scammer might give you list of names
and people ready to testify that the business is the only way you can
make it big in Lagos.. as soon as you are in, you are likely to be in
the scheme until you have sold all your things and borrowed more before
you are left alone. By then, it is already too late to do anything as
the scammer will disappear to the underground.
Familiar Face
This form of scam is activated and completed in less than a minute so
you need to be careful and smart. If someone suddenly grabs you in a
friendly bear hug and says it has been a long time you last saw each
other while you are struggling to see the person’s face, then you have
been hooked. It is likely the person will release you from the grip,
look at your face and apologise that you look very familiar and makes a
comment that people are created in twos. As soon as the person goes, he
is sure to have disappeared with your mobile phone, wallet and other
valuables you have. How this is done remains a mystery but as soon as
someone hold you in a deadlock, better push away and apologise later if
the person is someone you actually know. It is better than being
squeezed dry.
Bag Of Money
This trick is a very elaborate one meant to pull the victim in until
there is no way out. The scammer who is a member of a larger group
pretends to have stumbled upon a bad of foreign currency but the money
is supposedly under the siege of a spiritual spell. The plan is to
entice you with the large sum of money. You are expected to follow the
group to a spell where the spell can be broken and the money will be
safe for spending. As soon as you follow the group, you are definitely
going to lose your money in a bid to pay for the spell to be broken.
Winning Number
With the different promotions being done by companies to reward their
customers, scammers are keying into this scheme to defraud people in
Lagos. Text messages are sent to random numbers that they are the lucky
winners of large amounts of money in the on-going promo of a company. A
phone number is provided for you to call in order to claim your money.
That is where the scamming begins as you are asked to pay some amount of
money for the money to be transferred to you.
Foreign Relative
This scam also involves mobile communication but unlike the Winning
Number” which begins with a text message, this scam is initiated with a
phone call from a person who claims to be a distant relative and is
living in one foreign country. The scammer then milks you a story about
his decision to send you some goods and that you need to send some money
to an account before the goods can be cleared. As soon as you fail to
detect the scam, you are definitely going to pay a lot for your mistake.
Job
With a lot of people looking for jobs in Lagos, this scam is not easy
to detect. Lagosians lose their guards when there is the offer of a job
and might not take the time to find out how credible the job is. This
scam involve job seekers who were selected usually without applying for
that job being asked to submit their Cv and some processing fee. The
processing fee is not likely to end until the job seeker realises that
he has been putting water into a basket.
Accident
This scam plays on Lagosians’ emotion which is usually uncontrollable
when they get the news of an accident. In this case, the scammer calls
to inform you that a member of your family is involved in an accident
and is in critical condition. Your phone number was found on the
victim’s phone and you are expected to send some money so the person can
receive adequate treatment. It is reasonable to call the person’s
number first or someone who might have more reliable information before
proceeding. If not, you can realise too late that you have fallen for a
419 scheme
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