I am a real estate professional with properties advertized in many social media platforms such as jiji. Two days ago, I received a phone call from a man who said he was calling from jiji with the number 08109673408 and that jiji was asking its clients to upgrade so that they can receive many calls from potential customers. I asked him if the upgrade was at a cost and he said the upgrade was free and that it will link me to several other classified and social media platforms. I normally receive phone calls from jiji after I renew my property adverts on their platform and since I had just renewed my adverts a day prior to receiving this call, I obliged him.

He asked me when I started operating my account with jiji and how many adverts I had with them and what my Gmail account I opened with jiji was. He asked me what my mobile number was. I freely provided him all the information he requested. Finally, he asked me that he will send me a code and that I should send him the code so that the upgrade can be complete. Shortly thereafter, a code was sent to me and I called him back immediately to provide him the code. Then he called back and asked for my mobile number again and my email address. We spoke for about ten minutes and he was asking me to provide my mobile number several times. My husband was listening to the conversation and told me not to part with my password. Later, the man said the upgrade will be complete in few minutes after he ended the call and that I will receive a message on my mobile phone. After the call, I received a message that my password to my company Gmail account has been changed.
The next day I called the same number to complain thinking I had spoken to a jiji official and a woman picked the phone and there was noise at the background. She said the upgrade will be complete by Tuesday next week. It was then I became suspicious I had been scammed. I immediately tried opening my Gmail account and I was denied access to it, that was when I became almost mad because all my ATM pins are in my mail box, my website admin password, my CAC portal password that belongs to CAC accredited lawyers, my business contacts that I synced etc. I tried opening it again and then discovered my recovery email had been changed to kuriyanasara@gmail.com and mobile number had been changed. I tried to place a call to Google but they weren’t picking up. I called my bank where I had my major money which is FCMB and I was placed on hold for over 30mins telling me I was number 22 and should stay on the line, when I almost died not even know what next to do, I rushed to the bank to complain that my Gmail account had been hacked and then transferred all the monies I had to my husband’s account. I was mentally stressed and I began calling my website manager to change all my passwords just in case a fraudulent transaction had begun and if my account can be restored to me. It took a while, but we got it back, although I lost my CAC portal account, my account, but I blocked my major money before it was fiddled with. I must say that we Nigerians should be careful, for fraudsters have changed their mode of operation from what we are used to. They no longer send you an SMS to provide your BVN, passwords or PIN number. We must be alert at all times. I have learned the hard way, you don’t have to.

To explain their modus operandi and what they wanted to achieve ,here it is. What they do is, get your email account and phone number from any classified website, mine was from , but it could be from anywhere. They’d place a call to you pretending its coming from the company, asking you to confirm if you have account with them and if it’s a Gmail account, once you confirm, they’d ask which phone number is used for the account, once it’s confirmed that it’s a Gmail account and they have the phone number to the account, they’d tell you, while still hung on the phone to expect a code from them ie jiji which you’d need to call back to them to complete the upgrade. Note: They are never going to ask for your password because they know anyone would suspect, but what they need is the code Gmail is sending back to you just as if you’re the one trying to retrieve your forgotten password to your email box, but because they don’t have access to your phone in other to get the code directly, what they need is just YOU to give them the code that often starts with capital G-, which is Gmail. Once you ignorantly call it out to them, they’d delete your recovery email account, your phone number, change your password and your identity is completely lost and you’re doomed.

Once they hijacked your email what’s their motive They simply wants to impersonate you, get whatever information they could easily convert to money i.e. get your ATM pins, valuable documents, passwords to important information, sell valuable info, documents found in your box, blackmail you, ask money from unsuspecting people on your behalf, divert business payments etc. this is a little lengthy, but it could be you, it could be your friend(s), it could even be the president or the governor, nobody is free and safe from this. If I had the president’s contact, police commissioner’s phone number or minister’s details or transaction in my box, they easily could impersonate to be my company and who knows what might come out of it. Let us all beware. I have lost my account balisrelis@gmail.com with over 20 property adverts, have lost my balisrelis@gmail.com email account and still battling to get my box back all still to no avail despite the fact that I have a the precise day, month and year the box was opened. Please a little note to that the ads you have on on my name balisrelis.com isn’t mine, someone else is impersonating to be me right now, my account has been hijacked. Kindly ask whoever claims to own this account with your company to show up in person to your office and come identify himself with it or bring it down if you can’t let me have it back. I’m more than willing to come to your office to with all legal documents to prove the authenticity of my account on your platform5, because I wrote you and you never replied. I completely disconnect myself with the adverts on your website, in case of any fraudulent transactions perpetrated through that account; I am not liable in any form. I hope we’ll all send the word around to friends, family and also implore the necessary authority to bring the perpetrators to book.

I hope this is pushed to the front page so that everyone would benefit.

Barrister Adenike Toyin Benson.
denikebenson@gmail.com

nairaroot:

I am a real estate professional with properties advertized in many social media platforms such as jiji. Two days ago, I received a phone call from a man who said he was calling from jiji with the number 08109673408 and that jiji was asking its clients to upgrade so that they can receive many calls from potential customers. I asked him if the upgrade was at a cost and he said the upgrade was free and that it will link me to several other classified and social media platforms. I normally receive phone calls from jiji after I renew my property adverts on their platform and since I had just renewed my adverts a day prior to receiving this call, I obliged him.

He asked me when I started operating my account with jiji and how many adverts I had with them and what my Gmail account I opened with jiji was. He asked me what my mobile number was. I freely provided him all the information he requested. Finally, he asked me that he will send me a code and that I should send him the code so that the upgrade can be complete. Shortly thereafter, a code was sent to me and I called him back immediately to provide him the code. Then he called back and asked for my mobile number again and my email address. We spoke for about ten minutes and he was asking me to provide my mobile number several times. My husband was listening to the conversation and told me not to part with my password. Later, the man said the upgrade will be complete in few minutes after he ended the call and that I will receive a message on my mobile phone. After the call, I received a message that my password to my company Gmail account has been changed.
The next day I called the same number to complain thinking I had spoken to a jiji official and a woman picked the phone and there was noise at the background. She said the upgrade will be complete by Tuesday next week. It was then I became suspicious I had been scammed. I immediately tried opening my Gmail account and I was denied access to it, that was when I became almost mad because all my ATM pins are in my mail box, my website admin password, my CAC portal password that belongs to CAC accredited lawyers, my business contacts that I synced etc. I tried opening it again and then discovered my recovery email had been changed to kuriyanasara@gmail.com and mobile number had been changed. I tried to place a call to Google but they weren’t picking up. I called my bank where I had my major money which is FCMB and I was placed on hold for over 30mins telling me I was number 22 and should stay on the line, when I almost died not even know what next to do, I rushed to the bank to complain that my Gmail account had been hacked and then transferred all the monies I had to my husband’s account. I was mentally stressed and I began calling my website manager to change all my passwords just in case a fraudulent transaction had begun and if my account can be restored to me. It took a while, but we got it back, although I lost my CAC portal account, my account, but I blocked my major money before it was fiddled with. I must say that we Nigerians should be careful, for fraudsters have changed their mode of operation from what we are used to. They no longer send you an SMS to provide your BVN, passwords or PIN number. We must be alert at all times. I have learned the hard way, you don’t have to.

To explain their modus operandi and what they wanted to achieve ,here it is. What they do is, get your email account and phone number from any classified website, mine was from , but it could be from anywhere. They’d place a call to you pretending its coming from the company, asking you to confirm if you have account with them and if it’s a Gmail account, once you confirm, they’d ask which phone number is used for the account, once it’s confirmed that it’s a Gmail account and they have the phone number to the account, they’d tell you, while still hung on the phone to expect a code from them ie jiji which you’d need to call back to them to complete the upgrade. Note: They are never going to ask for your password because they know anyone would suspect, but what they need is the code Gmail is sending back to you just as if you’re the one trying to retrieve your forgotten password to your email box, but because they don’t have access to your phone in other to get the code directly, what they need is just YOU to give them the code that often starts with capital G-, which is Gmail. Once you ignorantly call it out to them, they’d delete your recovery email account, your phone number, change your password and your identity is completely lost and you’re doomed.

Once they hijacked your email what’s their motive They simply wants to impersonate you, get whatever information they could easily convert to money i.e. get your ATM pins, valuable documents, passwords to important information, sell valuable info, documents found in your box, blackmail you, ask money from unsuspecting people on your behalf, divert business payments etc. this is a little lengthy, but it could be you, it could be your friend(s), it could even be the president or the governor, nobody is free and safe from this. If I had the president’s contact, police commissioner’s phone number or minister’s details or transaction in my box, they easily could impersonate to be my company and who knows what might come out of it. Let us all beware. I have lost my account balisrelis@gmail.com with over 20 property adverts, have lost my balisrelis@gmail.com email account and still battling to get my box back all still to no avail despite the fact that I have a the precise day, month and year the box was opened. Please a little note to that the ads you have on on my name balisrelis.com isn’t mine, someone else is impersonating to be me right now, my account has been hijacked. Kindly ask whoever claims to own this account with your company to show up in person to your office and come identify himself with it or bring it down if you can’t let me have it back. I’m more than willing to come to your office to with all legal documents to prove the authenticity of my account on your platform5, because I wrote you and you never replied. I completely disconnect myself with the adverts on your website, in case of any fraudulent transactions perpetrated through that account; I am not liable in any form. I hope we’ll all send the word around to friends, family and also implore the necessary authority to bring the perpetrators to book.

I hope this is pushed to the front page so that everyone would benefit.

Barrister Adenike Toyin Benson.
denikebenson@gmail.com

You did not suspect anything? Reading your article from the very beginning it was clear that it was swindlers, and it was necessary to write to JIJI support !

TonyHoysa:

You did not suspect anything? Reading your article from the very beginning it was clear that it was swindlers, and it was necessary to write to JIJI support !

I think that you are wrong with accusations aside JIJI ! What happened is only your responsibility, next time you will be smarter !

I met a scammer here in this forum last week telling by a email username "Johnson Marian". She (may also be a male) said she is from Ivory Coast and wants me to help her in a $5.8 million account transfer. She asked me to give her my bank account and also to find her a school her in Ethiopia. I was really hoping to help her, until I checked online and found many ppl were talking about a scammer exactly like her username and situation.

Most People say that Nigeria is the scam capital of the world and she may also be Nigerian, but may also be from other countries.

TonyHoysa:

You did not suspect anything? Reading your article from the very beginning it was clear that it was swindlers, and it was necessary to write to JIJI support !

Funny it turns out ! People give out their personal data, after which they accuse JIJI !

Well some people tried this with me few months ago. Claiming to be Olist agents. They called for two consecutive days.
The first man that called said I will receive a code from Olist so that I can be getting Calls from customers. He asked me not to drop the call that he will stay on the line so i can call out the code to him, I received a code shortly after from a phone number but I told him I didn't receive any code. He asked if I was sure I said yes. He dropped the call and called back shortly after, this time I received the code from Facebook, but I still told him I didn't receive any code.
The next day another man called saying the same thing, a code was again sent to me from Facebook, I told the ma point blank that yes I received a code but I can't tell him because I didn't receive any communication of such from Olist.
When it comes to receiving codes on your phone numbers pls do not ever give it out to anyone even if it is a friend. Back in 2017 an old friend staying in Abeokuta once called me that someone was going to help him send a code to my phone, I received the code shortly after, he called back and I told him I didn't receive any code. Imagine someone in Abeokuta calling me Lagos to send code.
Pls be careful everyone.