I have been seeing news about fraudsters and scammers on frontpage, but haven’t witnessed anyone personally.

A friend came to me, telling me he received a message that he has won a promo. Immediately I heard promo; I smiled because I have seen such stories on frontpage and I know it’s much likely to be a scam. I asked what promo, he answered that it was an mtn promo, which he is the winner of N3.5M! I laughed and checked the message (picture attached) then asked him if he has called the Mr. Anthony.

According to him, he called the Mr. Anthony, and he congratulated him, saying he has won N3.5m and that he should note down the code (check attached picture) for claiming his money, and also told him how to get the money in the bank. I laughed hard as if I was reading a funny comment on nairaland , and then I asked if he did partake in any promo or draw and his answer was no. After deliberating on this issue for some time, we decided to give the Mr. Anthony a call (it was on loudspeaker), but his line was busy! (maybe busy with other victims!) . Few minutes later we called again, and he picked. One thing I noticed is that he sounds educated and speaks English (not Queen’s English o ). What baffled me the most is his full confidence in responding and giving instructions.

My friend asked him how he was going to redeem his N3.5m, and he was asked by the so called MTN staff to get a pen and paper and note down a code, and I quickly assisted him and typed the code with my phone. The so-called Mr. Anthony wanted to confirm if he has taken note of the code, so he asked him authoritatively if he noted the code, and he further asked him to call the code out which he did with the help of my phone. The fake mtn staff now said that for him to claim his price, he should get mtn recharge card of N1,500 and call him back! (what a hungry scammer! ).

We decided to call him back in the next 10 minutes, but his line was busy, perhaps he is conversing with another victim ! The next time we tried, he picked and was more confident and authoritative than before. The fake MTN agent asked if he has bought the card and he replied yes. He asked him again, this time, more authoritatively, even asking him if it was just one piece or two different cards, and my friend answered that it was just one. By now, the mood of the fake mtn staff was like that of Leicester fans when Chelsea equalized yesterday, just hoping for the final whistle! He now asked my friend to call the numbers of the card, and my friend called while I listened. After calling the numbers, the frustrated scammer started raining curses on my friend, shouting things like:

“Idiiiot! Thunder fire you! You are m@d!”

My friend didn't dull; he too blasted the pained hungry scammer. The scammer was frustrated like Atletico Madrid who thought they have won the Champions league only for Sergio Ramos to equalize at the dying minute! He was frustrated because the card whose numbers were called was an N100 card that my friend has already used. While they were exchanging insults, I laughed and laughed, and literally rmaotf because the scammer was frustrated!


I know this is a cheap way of scamming, but there are some people not yet aware! Please do well to sensitize friends and family members about this. (You can check the attached picture for the message).
They used short codes to send the message, meaning they are likely to have a large database of active Nigerian numbers that they send out at once. The question is, how did they get access to such huge database of numbers?

Here is what the message reads:

Congratulations! You have won N3.5MILLION ON MTN BEST
11 PROMO. Your promo code is (13GF) For your claim, call
MR ANTHONY: 08032443142 from MTN financial service.


Conclusion:
-shine your eyes, whenever you get a message or call informing you of winning in a contest you never participated, don’t respond.
- whenever you are told to send money or card before you can access your price, please run!
- Most (if not all) companies will never give you a personal number to call and will ask you to meet them in their office.
Please don’t fall a victim.

Una even get airtime to waste on him. I dont even give them the privilege of a phone call. I greet such messages with immediate deletion.

IRserveMyComent:
Una even get airtime to waste on him. I dont even give them the privilege of a phone call. I greet such messages with immediate deletion.

true, no need calling such scammers... we just wanted to have fun

too bad.. people will fall for this

Booty4meTM:
too bad.. people will fall for this

sad indeed.... it would be great to let more people know... I have seen people fall for scams more cheaper than this.... it all boils down to ignorance

We should be careful and wise

maryjan8:
We should be careful and wise

true