It was a Thursday and I had just returned, oh no! I was holding an after-school lesson session for kids. At that moment, we were making corrections on our spelling errors when my phone rang.
UnsplashThe name of the caller displayed on the screen was Ada. I was very surprised and wondered what may have prompted the call. The thing there is, my family and Ada's are close-knit family friends. We have good rapport and chat once a while but never had Ada and i had phone conversations. None that I could recall atleast
I picked the call, put it to my sar and waited for her to say something. I'm not very good at picking a call and dropping 'hello'. The person on the other end said hello followed by my name but it was not Ada. It was a man but no one who I could recognize I knew for certain that it was neither any of her siblings nor her father as I can tell their voices correctly.
When I responded and asked his identity, he said he was Ada's father and then he proceeded to tell that Ada had fallen ill, was admitted to the hospital and that they needed assistance. At this, my shock was shocked. It took so much for me to not burst into laughter.
Same Ada who I had waved hello when herself and her mum drove past that afternoon. I know stuff happens but it was making no sense. It was just an unthought-through plan.
Because first off, should any incident occur whereby Ada's family needs financial assistance, her dad would not be calling me. They're a well-to-do family.
I should have just hung up already but out of curiosity, I decided to play along. It wasn't my airtime that was wasting.
So I asked him what happened and how and he said things in the line of that she had been sick for a while and they had exhausted all they had. And her condition was getting worse and blah blah blah. At this point I was pissed a little. Why would anyone go this length to dupe people? Have they no conscience? The scam-man sounded so young and definitely there were honest ways to earn a living.
I went on to ask what hospital they were at. Mr scammer mentioned this hospital at another part of the city. Myself and my bro who I had gone out to meet( so he could listen in on the conversation) burst into laughter then. Cause, what would make them go all the way from their residential area to that location?Na so hospital scarce? And the hospital name was off too. I kept laughing while the scammer was saying, "can you hear me? Hello! What did you say?"
Haven had enough already, I just brought the phone to my mouth and said, "oga You no do this one well. Next time plan well cause this one don cut"
He hung up. I laughed even harder.
I learned later that after Ada and her mum had left my vicinity, her mum dropped her at a spot she was to get a vehicle heading home. Somehow, her phone had been taken off her. The scammer had also called everyone they could reach using her phone and with the same line they used on me. A person, was it two, feel for it and sent some money. It was just crazy.
It so sad that the number of scammers keep growing each day. Just three days ago one called my dad saying he was from the bank. Last year, one called saying an aunt was hospitalized. I used to wonder how they come up with all these lies and even sound so convincing but then, technology. It's even worse how their targets are mostly the elderly. It is insane.
I was just lucky to know so much about Ada and her background. Say it was someone whose financial status I was not privy to or something, I may have fallen. It was good that I could see throught the lies. One thing I learned from that experience was to be extra cautious and inquisitive. Keep asking questions and listen attentively.
These people are scared and not very confident in their ways. They listen to what you say. Give out so much information and arm them with enough to use to your disadvantage.
Thanks for gracing this post.
Greetings!