A POLITE VOICE, A TERRIBLE INTENTION

There is one thing I have come to understand about scammers.... they don't always look suspicious.. Sometimes, they speak politely, other times they sound more professional than the actual people you are trying to reach and sometimes, they know just enough information about you to make you believe they are genuine... That is what makes them dangerous.

In Nigeria, you have to be careful about almost everything involving money.. You can receive a bank alert and still need to confirm whether the money has actually entered your account. You can receive a message saying your account has been restricted, and suddenly your mind starts running through all the things you need to do with the money inside.

Scammers understand this fear, and some of them know exactly how to use it... So Imagine receiving a WhatsApp message from someone claiming to be a customer-care representative of your bank. The person introduces themselves professionally and tells you there is a problem with your account... They say your account needs verification to prevent it from being blocked.

Your first reaction might be to ask questions. But then the person explains everything confidently, using words that sound official. They may even have a profile picture carrying the bank's logo... Before you know it, you are no longer thinking about whether the person is genuine. You are thinking about how to resolve the problem quickly... That is how these people operate...

One thing I find particularly disturbing about scams is how they take advantage of people's everyday worries... Just Think about the average Nigerian who has struggled to save ₦50,000 or ₦100,000... That money may be meant for rent, school fees, food, transportation or an urgent family need... Now imagine somebody threatening that your account will be blocked if you don't act immediately... You may panic because you cannot afford to lose access to your money, even temporarily and this scammers knows that if you stop to think carefully, you might discover that the story doesn't make sense. So they create urgency.

"Do it now."

"Your account will be suspended."

"Send the code we just sent to your phone."

"Don't worry, sir. I'm here to help you."

The person sounds helpful, but what they really want is access to your money and this is where people need to be extremely careful... A bank representative should not need you to disclose your PIN, password, or one-time password (OTP) over WhatsApp or a phone call. Those details are meant to protect your account, not help someone else gain access to it.

How I would handle such a situation... The first thing I would do is slow down.

If someone contacts me unexpectedly and claims there is a problem with my bank account, I will not immediately click a link or provide personal information... Instead, I would end the conversation and contact the bank through its official customer-service channels. If there is genuinely a problem, the bank should be able to confirm it..

I would also avoid using phone numbers or links supplied by the suspicious person. If the person is a scammer, those details may simply lead me back to them and if I have already shared sensitive information, I would contact the bank immediately, request that the affected account or payment channel be secured, and change any compromised credentials. If money has already been transferred, I would report the transaction as quickly as possible and ask the bank to attempt a recovery then i would preserve screenshots, transaction references, phone numbers and messages because they might be useful when reporting the incident to the bank and the appropriate authorities....

Nobody is too intelligent to be scammed.. Whenever someone gets scammed, people are often quick to ask, "How could you fall for that?".. I don't think that is always a fair response..

Of course, we should learn to be careful but scammers are not always relying on people's lack of intelligence... They exploit trust, fear, desperation, excitement and sometimes the simple desire to make life easier.

A person who would never disclose their bank details under normal circumstances might make a different decision when someone convinces them that their account is about to be blocked.... Another person might fall for an investment opportunity because they desperately need money to solve a problem.

Someone else might receive a message supposedly from a relative who urgently needs financial assistance.

Different situations, same principle: the scammer tries to make you act before you have enough time to think.

In Nigeria, where people are already dealing with financial pressure, these tricks can be particularly cruel. Losing money is painful enough, but losing money you worked hard for can affect your plans, your confidence, and even your ability to trust people afterwards... That is why I believe we should educate one another instead of mocking victims..

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