Chisom Winnifred
G-boys/guys is the street name for cyber criminals and scammers. These scams are often known as ‘Nigerian 419’ scams because the first wave of them came from Nigeria.
Considering the harsh deplorable state of the economy, with thousands of graduates churned out from the universities all year round with little or no jobs, Nigerian youths have searched inwards for ways to survive.
One of the most popular and dare I say profitable means is the internet scams. I remember back then in school, you could easily identify them by their sleek iphones and pictures of white men and women in their gallery. They always live in quiet areas, away from noise and fellow students.
The most evident symptom is the car. They drive expensive cars to school and have girls swooping at their feet.
How can I forget? The most important symptom is how they spend generously at the club, popping bottles on end.
Before now, I’ve been very indifferent, I know it’s wrong but hey Nigeria is hard and everyone is trying to survive but I got a call from a friend of mine few days back that completely changed my stance on the issue.
A friend of mine from secondary school called me and was sounding out of sorts, when I asked him what the problem was; he informed me that his widowed mother’s savings bank account has been wiped out all of a sudden without notice. This is the woman’s life savings including her pension.
On closer inquiry, my friend found out it was probably the work of a ‘G or yahoo’ boy. She had received a text message, asking her to send sent her bank details so they can confirm her BVN number else her account will be frozen. Thinking she was dealing with her bank, she sent her bank information to them.
I don’t mean to judge but how can people call that hustling?? Stealing from people and causing so much pain? My friend said what pains him is the fact that at this very moment, the guy is probably somewhere in a club popping bottles with his mother’s hard earned money.
He concluded by telling me his mother has been very quite since the incident took place, they are afraid her blood pressure may be high so they are looking for means to replace the money for her.
This gave me food for thought for the rest of the day. Any money you don’t get through legitimate means is not hustle. It’s stealing.
Scammers have honed their craft over years and years of trial and error.
They’ve learned what works on people and what doesn’t.
Most scams have several things in common. If you can learn to recognize these common elements then you should be able to spot an online scam a mile away.
Here are a few telltale signs of an Internet scam:
Money is involved;
They may say that you have won money, that you have been left money, that your money is in danger. The common element is money. This should be your biggest indicator that you might be looking at a scam.
Never give out your credit card or personal information to anyone based on an email you received or a link you found in a pop-up message.
The Power of Fear:
Usually scammers will use fear to manipulate you into doing something you normally wouldn’t.
They’ll tell you something is wrong with your account to scare you. Some might even try to convince you that they are law enforcement and that you’ve committed a crime such as downloading pirated software.
They will use your fear to trick you into paying a “fine” to make everything OK, but it’s nothing more than blackmail under false pretence.
We Need Some of Your Personal Information
What does every scammer want besides your money?
They want your personal information so they can steal your identity and sell it to other crooks or use it themselves to obtain loans in your name. Avoid giving out your bank details to anyone online.
In all, try to be security conscious while dealing with people on/offline