Cybercrime nightmare

Cybersecurity is never a new thing to anyone, because securing our online activity is the only way we can escape being defrauded.

Don't get me wrong, nobody is perfect when it comes to being defrauded online, so for that reason, we must always be careful with whatever we do online and also make sure our security is tight so that we won't end up being a victim of cybercrime, and if you have already fallen victim, then you must be extra careful so that it will not repeat itself.

My mom will always say thieves have nothing to lose since they didn't buy; all they do is steal from people, so we must make sure we keep our things well..

I nearly fell victim to cyber fraud with my Facebook account, but I was able to get my account back all thanks to my email. But then my junior sister couldn't escape it because she didn't see it coming until it happened.

The image is mine and was edited on Canva by me

Some years ago we both got admission into Lagos State Polytechnic (Laspotech), which has now been converted into a university. I paid my acceptance fee and some other money that was required in a cyber cafe by myself since I am computer literate, but she was scared of making mistakes while making the payment. I told her I could help, but she didn't trust me, so she took her details to the main campus.

She gave it to a Cyber Cafe guy because she believed he would never make such mistakes; the truth is, he didn't make a mistake truly, but she later regretted her actions because some days later she started receiving debit alerts without making any transactions.

Before the incident, she wasn't feeling well, so she stayed back at her hostel in Isolo. She said her phone was stolen before she woke up, and while looking for the phone, she saw her SIM card at the entrance of the house.

She didn't worry about her Android since she got her SIM card, so she quickly got a small phone, and she started receiving debit alerts. None of her roommates could say what was happening because all of them were not at home when her phone got stolen, and she also found out that her ATM card was nowhere to be found as well.

Everything happened so fast, and eighty-five thousand naira was withdrawn from her GTB account without any stress. She ran to the bank to block her SIM and ATM card before the person withdrew all her money and also to get a statement of the account.

One thing about these people who commit fraud is that they always have someone in the bank. That's what I thought because the bank is supposed to be able to trace any lost money, but then nothing was done in the bank, and the statement that was printed carried an Igbo name, which she didn't know, and she was told at the bank that it was someone close to her that did it; if not, the person wouldn't have a clean transaction like that.

She came back to Ikorodu from the bank without taking anything or bathing; she started crying, and I told her it was from the cafeteria where she paid her acceptance fee because that was the only person she had given her account details to. But my sister told her it could be the person who took her phone and her ATM card that did the transaction.

The image is mine
The next day, she went back to Isolo to meet the guy, and he denied it, so there was no one to hold responsible for the fraud; she had to let it go.

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What I learned from that experience was to never trust anyone with your account details even though you need the person to help you with the transaction, and we should always do anything that has to do with transactions by ourselves if not everyone might end up being a victim.