₦airaland Forum

Your don go oo next time call the person before you make such payment, you were careless and they can scam you again using another format. Just be very careful online

StrangeListing:
This is a very painful experience, MissOpe, and I am deeply sorry for the loss. WhatsApp account hijacking via OTP scams is incredibly rampant right now. To give you direct answers based on how fintech recovery works in Nigeria:

1 The Bank Dilemma: OPay was wrong to bounce you back; however, PalmPay is correct that a formal Court Order (Mareva Injunction) or a signed Police Report from the anti-fraud unit is legally required to permanently freeze a suspect's wallet and initiate a chargeback.

2 Next Steps: Once you upload the Police Report to PalmPay, their fraud team will officially communicate with OPay's compliance unit. The recovery timeline usually takes between 7 to 14 working days, depending entirely on whether the scammer has already moved the ₦200,000 out of that OPay wallet.

3 Maximize Chances: Do not rely on regular police alone. Immediately forward your transaction receipts, the scammer's OPay account number, and WhatsApp screenshots to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) via their official online reporting portal. They are highly efficient with digital tracking and can trace the BVN/NIN tied to that OPay account.

Keep pushing immediately before the funds are entirely liquidated. I hope you get a positive outcome.

This is exactly the correct sequence but the issue is to recover/arrest the culprit you might have spend like twice of the money defrauded. Nigeria police can track and arrest the person involved but the question is at what cost? I sincerely hope somehow you will get lucky by trying to make the report through NPC-NCCC maybe a good police officer might take interest and decided to do it pro bono.

Just do your best.

Hungrychicken:
I have recovered money with Opay.

Send them the details of your transactions and chats, tell them you were scammed. They know what to do, they’ll freeze the account until you get refunded.

I did not provide any police report, it was very easy for me to get them to act

I did, they insisted on me getting a court order or police report.......

Agadinaagwuofe:
This is exactly the correct sequence but the issue is to recover/arrest the culprit you might have spend like twice of the money defrauded. Nigeria police can track and arrest the person involved but the question is at what cost? I sincerely hope somehow you will get lucky by trying to make the report through NPC-NCCC maybe a good police officer might take interest and decided to do it pro bono.

Just do your best.

Thanks so much , I appreciate your input on this ...🙏🙏.

I will do my best on this case

MissOpe:
Good day everyone.

I am currently dealing with a very painful situation, and I need advice from people who have experience with fraud cases and fund recovery in Nigeria.

A close friend contacted me through WhatsApp asking me to help her with some funds. Because I knew the person, I believed it was genuinely her and agreed to help.

She sent me an account number to make the transfer, which I did from my PalmPay account. She later contacted me again and gave me another account number, asking me to send another amount.

At that point, I became suspicious and asked her to confirm that I was actually communicating with her. Instead of confirming, she started giving different excuses and avoiding the question.

That was when I realized that I might have been dealing with someone who had compromised or impersonated my friend's WhatsApp account, and that I had been scammed.

The total amount I lost was ₦200,000.

Immediately after realizing what had happened, I contacted OPay because the money was sent to an OPay account. I requested that the recipient's account be frozen/restricted, but OPay directed me to contact PalmPay since PalmPay was the sending institution.

I reported the matter to PalmPay and PalmPay subsequently informed me that they require a Police Report or Court Order before they can proceed with the case.

I am currently obtaining the Police Report and will upload it as requested.
Please, I need advice from anyone who has experienced something similar:

Has anyone successfully recovered money transferred to an OPay account belonging to a scammer?

After submitting the Police Report, how long does the recovery process normally take?

Is there anything else I should do to increase my chances of recovering the ₦200,000?

Should I also report the matter to the EFCC or the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre?

I have the transaction receipts, WhatsApp conversations, and other evidence relating to the incident.

Please, I would really appreciate practical advice from people who have gone through a similar situation, especially anyone who has successfully recovered their money.

Thank you.

rule no 1, never pay into an unfamiliar account

If after ALL procedures you follow and still no solution, PRAY on the matter and on the scammer/s involved.

No peace for the wicked

Then, move on

MissOpe:
That money means a lot to me...

But it is well .

Thanks for thr kind wishes

Why you cover the scammer name and details?

Secondly, that money has since been moved out of that account. Don't bother wasting your time, energy and more money because at the end, you'll likely not get it back at all.

This is Nigeria

MissOpe:
Good day everyone.

I am currently dealing with a very painful situation, and I need advice from people who have experience with fraud cases and fund recovery in Nigeria.

A close friend contacted me through WhatsApp asking me to help her with some funds. Because I knew the person, I believed it was genuinely her and agreed to help.

She sent me an account number to make the transfer, which I did from my PalmPay account. She later contacted me again and gave me another account number, asking me to send another amount.

At that point, I became suspicious and asked her to confirm that I was actually communicating with her. Instead of confirming, she started giving different excuses and avoiding the question.

That was when I realized that I might have been dealing with someone who had compromised or impersonated my friend's WhatsApp account, and that I had been scammed.

The total amount I lost was ₦200,000.

Immediately after realizing what had happened, I contacted OPay because the money was sent to an OPay account. I requested that the recipient's account be frozen/restricted, but OPay directed me to contact PalmPay since PalmPay was the sending institution.

I reported the matter to PalmPay and PalmPay subsequently informed me that they require a Police Report or Court Order before they can proceed with the case.

I am currently obtaining the Police Report and will upload it as requested.
Please, I need advice from anyone who has experienced something similar:

Has anyone successfully recovered money transferred to an OPay account belonging to a scammer?

After submitting the Police Report, how long does the recovery process normally take?

Is there anything else I should do to increase my chances of recovering the ₦200,000?

Should I also report the matter to the EFCC or the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre?

I have the transaction receipts, WhatsApp conversations, and other evidence relating to the incident.

Please, I would really appreciate practical advice from people who have gone through a similar situation, especially anyone who has successfully recovered their money.

Thank you.

Just forget it, check my previous post (it made it to the front page) police follow duped me ontop

sharone21:
If after ALL procedures you follow and still no solution, PRAY on the matter and on the scammer/s involved.

No peace for the wicked

Then, move on

make she forget 200k like that

Always think before comment online next time

Lukuluku69:
Eyah!

Sorry for the loss but then you sent 200k to someone just like that? Sebi you know the person's name? Once it doesn't match with the Recipient's Account number provided, that should put you on caution in this age and time!

I hope you recover your money!

..she should had call the person on phone first to confirm..but just rushed to send the money

MissOpe:
Good day everyone.

I am currently dealing with a very painful situation, and I need advice from people who have experience with fraud cases and fund recovery in Nigeria.

A close friend contacted me through WhatsApp asking me to help her with some funds. Because I knew the person, I believed it was genuinely her and agreed to help.

She sent me an account number to make the transfer, which I did from my PalmPay account. She later contacted me again and gave me another account number, asking me to send another amount.

At that point, I became suspicious and asked her to confirm that I was actually communicating with her. Instead of confirming, she started giving different excuses and avoiding the question.

That was when I realized that I might have been dealing with someone who had compromised or impersonated my friend's WhatsApp account, and that I had been scammed.

The total amount I lost was ₦200,000.

Immediately after realizing what had happened, I contacted OPay because the money was sent to an OPay account. I requested that the recipient's account be frozen/restricted, but OPay directed me to contact PalmPay since PalmPay was the sending institution.

I reported the matter to PalmPay and PalmPay subsequently informed me that they require a Police Report or Court Order before they can proceed with the case.

I am currently obtaining the Police Report and will upload it as requested.
Please, I need advice from anyone who has experienced something similar:

Has anyone successfully recovered money transferred to an OPay account belonging to a scammer?

After submitting the Police Report, how long does the recovery process normally take?

Is there anything else I should do to increase my chances of recovering the ₦200,000?

Should I also report the matter to the EFCC or the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre?

I have the transaction receipts, WhatsApp conversations, and other evidence relating to the incident.

Please, I would really appreciate practical advice from people who have gone through a similar situation, especially anyone who has successfully recovered their money.

Thank you.

.why did you not call her on phone first to confirm.. before sending her money...when typing her bank account details did her name appear in the bank account details she gave to you or another name...

MissOpe:
I did, they insisted on me getting a court order or police report.......

I’m really sorry about that 🙏🏽

The account you paid into, did it match your friend`s name ? That is what you could have verified

Firstly...I sincerely sympathise with you on this. No one is immune to mistakes in this life. (we're all on a life-long learning Institute in this entity called 🌎)

Secondly, from all of your replies to people's comments and all (even with your original post which is the "subject matter") you seem to be a KIND HEARTED and SOFTLY SPOKEN individual who could barely hurt a fly. May you find favours too.

Just to save repeated reiterations....Scammers really have their ways (they're smart individuals). Out of all the comments posted, the only reasonable one amongst all is the person who pointed out that if the recipient account is a random POS operator and that if he/she still has some change left in the account, then the FREEZING of a thing will work out which might enable you get some of your funds back.

Just that Nigeria is such a F33KKED up country whereby somethings don't really work out the way it ought to be. Just be of góod cheers and try your possible best on it's recovery process. I pray it works out good

MissOpe:
Thank you very much for the information. I really appreciate it.
I am already in the process of obtaining the Police Report, as PalmPay requested it before they can proceed with the case. I am hoping the funds have not been moved yet and that a restriction can still be placed on the recipient's account.
Please, regarding the BVN blacklisting you mentioned, do you mean that PalmPay/OPay can flag or blacklist the beneficiary's BVN for suspected fraud? If so, do you know the proper procedure for requesting this?
Also, if the money has already been moved from the account, is there still a process through which it can be traced and recovered?
Thank you.

You just might end up spending over 200k pursuing this matter.

MissOpe:
That money means a lot to me...

But it is well .

Thanks for thr kind wishes

You shouldn't have replied the nuisance

Don't you know your friend name?

If toh say nah OPay to OPay, OPay would have flagged his/her account.

You might spend more than 100k to report the account o

Be careful next time

Lukuluku69:
Eyah!

Sorry for the loss but then you sent 200k to someone just like that? Sebi you know the person's name? Once it doesn't match with the Recipient's Account number provided, that should put you on caution in this age and time!

I hope you recover your money!

That's not how it works
They tell you that you're sending the money to their cousin or brother who is in hospital that they are trying to send money to but Network is failing them.
A simple caution when someone is asking for your help in such circumstance is to tell them to call you

Parachoko:
You shouldn't have replied the nuisance

Don't you know your friend name?

If toh say nah OPay to OPay, OPay would have flagged his/her account.

You might spend more than 100k to report the account o

Be careful next time

I will.

Thanks so much sir/ma🙏

Hungrychicken:
I’m really sorry about that 🙏🏽

Thanks so much🙏🙏🙏

ufotunang:
.why did you not call her on phone first to confirm.. before sending her money...when typing her bank account details did her name appear in the bank account details she gave to you or another name...

She gave me the impression that she was in a Market place and was trying to make payment to an agent.....

I called her and everywhere was noisy..

But I've learnt bitterly from this experience...

Never again.

MissOpe:
Thanks for sharing your experience with me bro..

I never would have believed I would fall for such until it happened..

It's a lesson learnt...

I guess such is life

Sorry for the lose.
My lesson in life is that I do not worry much about ppl I don't trust cos it will be hard to get hurt from them cos I keep them at arms length.
The people I never let my guard down for are those that I trust cos they are always close and that is where things that will kill can easily come from.
Trust can get you killed.

I know you got easily tricked cos the msg came from the contact of someone you trusted.
I pray the recovery efforts yield positive result.
Pls No Lose Guard again.

MissOpe:
She gave me the impression that she was in a Market place and was trying to make payment to an agent.....

I called her and everywhere was noisy..

But I've learnt bitterly from this experience...

Never again.

why don’t you post the chat evidence if it’s really real and truth


You sha wan use style make your post Dey front page

MissOpe:
Thank you very much for the information. I really appreciate it.
I am already in the process of obtaining the Police Report, as PalmPay requested it before they can proceed with the case. I am hoping the funds have not been moved yet and that a restriction can still be placed on the recipient's account.
Please, regarding the BVN blacklisting you mentioned, do you mean that PalmPay/OPay can flag or blacklist the beneficiary's BVN for suspected fraud? If so, do you know the proper procedure for requesting this?
Also, if the money has already been moved from the account, is there still a process through which it can be traced and recovered?
Thank you.

Nibo? The fund has been moved. Don’t you know that the skkamma used a POS shop to collect it? He collected that and went to another POS shop. That’s why he gave you another account number.

It is the POS operator that will suffer the account freezing consequences but not the skkamma. The only way you can catch the skamma is if the POS operator eventually transferred the money to the skkkammma’s account.
You may even need to arrest the POS operator, for you to be able to trace the sk.ama.

Now imagine if the POS operator and skamma.a live in a state very far from you. How do you arrest trace and arrest him?

I am 100% certain that the skam a will collect the money in cash, to avoid being traced. He won’t mind loosing some charges to the POS operator— after all, it’s a free money. He could pay up to 20k fee to the POS operator and smile home with 180k.

When next someone reaches out to you for money, call the person, to be sure it’s actually the person. You may also request the person to do a voice note to be sure. Let the person know why you requested for such so that the person doesn’t feel you are demeaning him or her.

That’s what I do.

MissOpe:
She gave me the impression that she was in a Market place and was trying to make payment to an agent.....

I called her and everywhere was noisy..

But I've learnt bitterly from this experience...

Never again.

..ok very sorry about that....but when you were typing her bank account details on your phone..did her name appear or another person name appear on the bank account details

VanuatuWycombe:
Nibo? The fund has been moved. Don’t you know that the skkamma used a POS shop to collect it? He collected that and went to another POS shop. That’s why he gave you another account number.

It is the POS operator that will suffer the account freezing consequences but not the skkamma. The only way you can catch the skamma is if the POS operator eventually transferred the money to the skkkammma’s account.
You may even need to arrest the POS operator, for you to be able to trace the sk.ama.

Now imagine if the POS operator and skamma.a live in a state very far from you. How do you arrest trace and arrest him?

I am 100% certain that the skam a will collect the money in cash, to avoid being traced. He won’t mind loosing some charges to the POS operator— after all, it’s a free money. He could pay up to 20k fee to the POS operator and smile home with 180k.

When next someone reaches out to you for money, call the person, to be sure it’s actually the person. You may also request the person to do a voice note to be sure. Let the person know why you requested for such so that the person doesn’t feel you are demeaning him or her.

That’s what I do.

Thanks for your input bro..

I guess there are some lessons you need to learn in a bitter and hard way.

This is one of it ...

MissOpe:
Its the reason I want to freeze the Pos Operators account, he could know the person she came to transact with him in person

Not possible.

Would a scammer use the pos of an operator that could get to him, knowing fully well there is a probability of reversal ?


I doubt it. For someone to be smart enough to run a stranger street by acting like a black-yanch-money-looking-familiar-person, he must be smart.

StrangeListing:
This is a very painful experience, MissOpe, and I am deeply sorry for the loss. WhatsApp account hijacking via OTP scams is incredibly rampant right now. To give you direct answers based on how fintech recovery works in Nigeria:

1 The Bank Dilemma: OPay was wrong to bounce you back; however, PalmPay is correct that a formal Court Order (Mareva Injunction) or a signed Police Report from the anti-fraud unit is legally required to permanently freeze a suspect's wallet and initiate a chargeback.

2 Next Steps: Once you upload the Police Report to PalmPay, their fraud team will officially communicate with OPay's compliance unit. The recovery timeline usually takes between 7 to 14 working days, depending entirely on whether the scammer has already moved the ₦200,000 out of that OPay wallet.

3 Maximize Chances: Do not rely on regular police alone. Immediately forward your transaction receipts, the scammer's OPay account number, and WhatsApp screenshots to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) via their official online reporting portal. They are highly efficient with digital tracking and can trace the BVN/NIN tied to that OPay account.

Keep pushing immediately before the funds are entirely liquidated. I hope you get a positive outcome.

Many thanks for your response to my ordeal..
I've been able to report officially online..

Hopefully I get a positive result from all these....

Hello @MissOpe, were you able to recover your funds?

In case of another time, whenever you receive such a request from anybody (even if it's your mum), no matter the amount, pls call the person to confirm. Her phone might have been stolen; she might be held at gunpoint; anything could be/could have happened.

yemre:
Hello @MissOpe, were you able to recover your funds?

In case of another time, whenever you receive such a request from anybody (even if it's your mum), no matter the amount, pls call the person to confirm. Her phone might have been stolen; she might be held at gunpoint; anything could be/could have happened.

Good morning, Yemre.
At this juncture, I’m honestly confused and don’t really know what to make of the whole situation.
The message I initially received from her was that she needed money to send to her exchange agent so she could pick up her husband. I sent the #200,000 in good faith. Shortly afterwards, she requested another #135,000, and that was when I became suspicious. I asked her to prove that I was actually speaking with her, but she kept giving excuses and avoided properly confirming her identity.
Because of this, I reached out to her in-laws. That was when I was told that her so-called husband had reached out to them and said that her phone had been stolen and her line had been compromised.
Fortunately, I reached out to her best friend yesterday, and she confirmed something I didn't know before that she had actually travelled to Ghana, and her husband also travelled from Canada to Ghana so they could meet. According to her friend, she was sending pictures and videos throughout the journey, even when she got to the airport and checked into the hotel, until her phone eventually became unreachable.
She also told her friend confidentially that her in-laws must not find out that she was travelling to Ghana to meet their son, apparently similar to what happened about three years ago when she also asked me for money to meet up with her husband.
My concern now is this: because she didn't carry me along or tell me anything about this trip to Ghana, what if she returns and simply sticks to the story that her phone was stolen and compromised, when in reality she had travelled to Ghana to meet her husband?
What also worries me is that, up till now, she hasn't reached out to me despite apparently hearing that I was scammed through her phone/number. Her line has also remained unreachable.
At this point, I honestly don't know what to believe. Part of me is beginning to suspect that she may actually have been the one who made the request for the money, but I don't want to accuse her without knowing the truth.
My biggest concern now is that she may return, maintain the story that her phone was stolen, and then refuse to refund the money. I genuinely don't know what to do at this point, and that's why I'm trying to understand the situation as much as I can...

By the way, Palmpay seem not to be effective about the reports I made days back..

I called the customer care team and they keep saying they havent gotten my report, something I did more than thrice via their app.

MissOpe:
Good morning, Yemre.
At this juncture, I’m honestly confused and don’t really know what to make of the whole situation.
The message I initially received from her was that she needed money to send to her exchange agent so she could pick up her husband. I sent the #200,000 in good faith. Shortly afterwards, she requested another #135,000, and that was when I became suspicious. I asked her to prove that I was actually speaking with her, but she kept giving excuses and avoided properly confirming her identity.
Because of this, I reached out to her in-laws. That was when I was told that her so-called husband had reached out to them and said that her phone had been stolen and her line had been compromised.
Fortunately, I reached out to her best friend yesterday, and she confirmed something I didn't know before that she had actually travelled to Ghana, and her husband also travelled from Canada to Ghana so they could meet. According to her friend, she was sending pictures and videos throughout the journey, even when she got to the airport and checked into the hotel, until her phone eventually became unreachable.
She also told her friend confidentially that her in-laws must not find out that she was travelling to Ghana to meet their son, apparently similar to what happened about three years ago when she also asked me for money to meet up with her husband.
My concern now is this: because she didn't carry me along or tell me anything about this trip to Ghana, what if she returns and simply sticks to the story that her phone was stolen and compromised, when in reality she had travelled to Ghana to meet her husband?
What also worries me is that, up till now, she hasn't reached out to me despite apparently hearing that I was scammed through her phone/number. Her line has also remained unreachable.
At this point, I honestly don't know what to believe. Part of me is beginning to suspect that she may actually have been the one who made the request for the money, but I don't want to accuse her without knowing the truth.
My biggest concern now is that she may return, maintain the story that her phone was stolen, and then refuse to refund the money. I genuinely don't know what to do at this point, and that's why I'm trying to understand the situation as much as I can...

By the way, Palmpay seem not to be effective about the reports I made days back..

I called the customer care team and they keep saying they havent gotten my report, something I did more than thrice via their app.

Your chats here did not show that you spoke with her before releasing that money, and that was an error on your part! (You only chatted). I had a similar experience when a friend I've not seen in a while chatted to request for 250k. What saved me was that I called just to know that she actually did. The chat came in around 11:30pm or so but I didn't respond.i only called in the morning for confirmation after she'd gone to retrieve her line. It was then she told me that her phone was stolen the previous night.

Back to recovery. Tell that her best friend what happened and let her confirm with the lady in Ghana. But, to be very frank with you, I don't see her admitting that she requested that money (even if she did). A friend that could remember to ask you for an emergency fund but wouldn't remember to let you know that she'd be going on a journey!
I just hope Palmpay and Opay responds eventually and do something about it. If it was a regular bank now, a lien could be placed on the account (based on the court order) and she could be arrested any day she enters any branch to lodge a complaint. But fintech? I don't know!

yemre:
Your chats here did not show that you spoke with her before releasing that money, and that was an error on your part! (You only chatted). I had a similar experience when a friend I've not seen in a while chatted to request for 250k. What saved me was that I called just to know that she actually did. The chat came in around 11:30pm or so but I didn't respond.i only called in the morning for confirmation after she'd gone to retrieve her line. It was then she told me that her phone was stolen the previous night.

Back to recovery. Tell that her best friend what happened and let her confirm with the lady in Ghana. But, to be very frank with you, I don't see her admitting that she requested that money (even if she did). A friend that could remember to ask you for an emergency fund but wouldn't remember to let you know that she'd be going on a journey!
I just hope Palmpay and Opay responds eventually and do something about it. If it was a regular bank now, a lien could be placed on the account (based on the court order) and she could be arrested any day she enters any branch to lodge a complaint. But fintech? I don't know!

Thanks for your concern, Yemre.

I've told her friend everything that happened between the two of us, and everyone I've spoken to about this has advised me to be patient and wait until she returns before drawing any conclusions.

My greatest fear right now, like you rightly pointed out, is that she may come back and maintain that she was not the one who requested the money. Considering that I was the one who escalated the matter to her in-laws after I suspected I had been scammed especially because the money was sent to an account that wasn't hers, I worry that she may be reluctant to tell me the truth about her trip.

From what her friend told me, she had specifically confided in her that she didn't want her in-laws to know she was travelling to Ghana to meet her husband. So, knowing that I have already contacted the in-laws and told them I suspected her phone had been compromised, she may feel that if she tells me about the trip, I could eventually tell them.

By the way, I genuinely didn't speak with her directly before sending the money. Like I mentioned earlier, this is not completely unusual between us. There has been a previous occasion when I lent her money when her husband came in and she was trying to sort out a few things but was financially stuck. So when she reached out this time, I honestly didn't think twice before helping her. I believed I was simply helping a friend who needed me.