₦airaland Forum

I will like to share my experience here while also expecting others to share there's so we can all learn from it.

There can be no doubt that one of the easiest and arguably cheapest places to buy a car is online. But it is full of scammers who are bent on dispossessing you of your hard earned money. I personally have fallen prey once when I trustingly sent 160k to a one-time primary and secondary school classmate as part payment for a car in Lagos. The last time we saw was when we were in JS1. His dad was the Principal of my school before he was transferred. There was a time he called me, which was about 23 years after we last saw saying he was dealing in cars. He was always sending me pictures of different cars. About 3 months before he finally duped me, he called to say his car had broken down on his way to Abuja and that he was stranded. He asked me to help him with some money. For old times sake, I sent him some cash.

Later, he persuaded me he could help me get a better car at a cheaper rate. He sent the pix and I loved what I saw. I sold my old car and was ready to buy the car.

According to him, I needed to send some money ahead. The payment was to let the owner wait for me to come to Lagos so he would know I was serious and not be tempted to sell it to other prospective buyers. I sent the money and as we speak, the rest is history.

The first thing he did was to stop picking my calls and stop responding to my watshapp messages. I then had to call one of our senior colleagues back in our secondary school days, whom we all respected. He called him but he just kept giving excuses like he travelled, he was not in town, the owner of the car had been given the money but he hadn't seen him to collect it and all sorts of rubbish. At a point, I got his mom's number whom I called but the woman was only pleading with me each time I called him.

Eventually, we even found out the scammer was not in Lagos as he had claimed. He was said to have been living in Ibadan. To cut the long story short, I had to forget about the money. Since I stopped calling him, which is over a year now, he has neither called nor sent a text to me. I just left it for God whom I know will repay him. We also found out he lives on scamming people. The only thing that surprises me now is that about 3 months after he duped me, he no longer uses his watshapp. His Facebook page where he always posted messages and pictures of cars too has not been updated since then.

I also know some of some who will tell you dont pay anything except for the money for fuelling or delivery and that when the car is delivered and you like it, you should pay the money for the car but I never fell for such.

Please share other methods or experience you may have had or know so we can all learn from you.

Thanks.

Scammers everywhere, amaghi onye ana eze.

You only fall for him because you know him before....sorry bro

The problem always still is with the buyer. Just like the devil can tempt you but not force you to sin, a scammer can lure you but not come to your doorstep and put a gun to your head and take your money. Na you go still give am opportunity. And then give other genuine business men a bad name.
Trusting a person you saw last 23 years ago, who has had a history of money problems with you before. That's classic!
It's just like locking a Priest with a sweet naked girl, then coming back to call the man a bad Priest cos he had sex with her. I say no more.
Abeg, click on my username for sweet available deals, then call or Whatsapp my number.
Thank you!

Temidayo9:
You only fall for him because you know him before....sorry bro

Yeah, that's true.

EEA1:
The problem always still is with the buyer. Just like the devil can tempt you but not force you to sin, a scammer can lure you but not come to your doorstep and put a gun to your head and take your money. Na you go still give am opportunity. And then give other genuine business men a bad name.
Trusting a person you saw last 23 years ago, who has had a history of money problems with you before. That's classic!
It's just like locking a Priest with a sweet naked girl, then coming back to call the man a bad Priest cos he had sex with her. I say no more.
Abeg, click on my username for sweet available deals, then call or Whatsapp my number.
Thank you!

Good point but we were very close then and when he called me his car broke down, I couldn't just look away and I didn't lend him the money. I gave it to him.

I see why some people will never trust anybody with money, not even their own brother but that doesn't mean there are no longer trustworthy persons. The car I was using before the one I sold was bought from Lagos and registered by someone introduced to me by a friend. I never saw him face to face until he delivered the car to me in PH. That's someone I didn't even know. So I never imagined someone I know would do that. But scammers now target people they know to some extent as they are more likely to fall into their hands than strangers. That's one thing to learn from this.