Monday 15 August 2011

Ben Adams.

I woke up that morning. It was a chilly but peaceful morning. I was home alone with my brother, we were on break from school. I picked my phone to do the usual thing 'Tweet'. I had a message from call centre. I opened it to read it, and it read: "Dear customer, You have just won #1 millon naira for playing the recharge and win promo, your batch number is G36. Call Mr Ben Adams on 080xxxxxxxx for futher details".
Goodness gracious me!!! I rubbed my face very well to ensure i was really holding my own phone, and that i was really awake and not dreaming. 'This is a bloody scam!!!' i screamed. My brother ran to my room 'whats wrong?' i showed him the message. 'its 419 jor! that bulk sms stuff he said, obviously shocked too'. I scrolled down to check if there was a number... and there it was 111. I could not believe my luck! The message was really from the network!! 'Lets call Ben Adams!!!' I screamed

'Welcome to naija network my name is Ben Adams, how can i help you??' His voice sounded so professional. This was real. He sounded too polished to be a scammer. This was too good to be true!

'Good morning, i got a message about winning something, and i was asked to call you' i answered holding my breathe.

'ok, was there a batch number in the message madam?' he even called me madam, professionally.

'yes, yes there was'

'ok, pls give it to me madam'

'G36' i answered quickly

'ok. Pls madam, can you call me back in 2mins, i need to check if your name is on the list'

'sure, sure'

2 minutes later, no i didn't want to look TOO desperate... so i added 2 more minutes.

'Thanks for calling back madam, i am happy to inform you that you have won #1 millon' i could hear the smile in his warm voice.
Calm down, calm down, i told my self. Don't sound too excited! i tried to caution myself

'are you serious?' i asked calmly

'yes madam' he answered with a smile in his voice

'wow thanks' i said

'you welcome ma. You would have to send #1000 credit with your batch number in a text message so we can register you ma' he continued.
 I frowned. Why was he asking for credit?? I had been warned against fraudster asking for account numbers. Oh well he wasn't asking for my account number. This had to be real.

I sent the credit and called him back.

'Welcome back ma. Pls you have to send the following information: Name, Next of kin, Occupation and Bank. Pls madam do not send you account no he emphasised'. I was super happy! No account no? This is definitely real!
I thought to myself, i woke up penniless, but now i'm a millionaire. How great!

Then something struck me. Call the customer care yourself to find out how real this is. I told my brother, and he agreed. We called them.

'Welcome to naija network, how can i help you?' A lady answered. I told her what the problem was and she laughed.

'Call centre never sends messages. And if you are a winner, we call, not ask you to call. Be careful madam'

I dropped the call and stared at the list of things i had planned to do with the money;
  1. Tithe - #100000
  2. New blackberry- #90000
  3. Shopping- #200000
  4. Femi(my brother)- #100000
  5. Give rest to popci to keep.
May you never succeed Ben Adams, for taking my #1000 credit.



PS: This really happened to me.

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