I remember I was scammed sometime ago too, but that's a story for another day.
Enjoy his story below:
I had left the Island around 3:30pm for Ikeja with the intention to buy a UK used Blackberry Q10 for my mother, but due to the traffic along the way, I got to Ikeja after 6 o'clock which is the time Computer Village merchants close for the day. I went straight to the shop where I normally buy phones from but on getting there, the guy was no longer around. I decided to negotiate with another guy there but his price was too high for the money I had for the phone.
I was about to leave computer village when I saw a guy trying to sell a blackberry Q10.
He had a familiar face so I approached him, inquired about the phone, he responded saying we should sit down close to one of the canteens and we began to discuss. I checked the phone, saw that it had a data plan running and decided to check the blackberry ID on the phone. I saw the name there and asked him to state the name so as to be sure that it wasn't stolen.
He said the name and proved that it wasn't stolen by showing his pictures, BBM, Hub, Twitter e.t.c we then concluded on the price.
When it was time to pay, I had to go to an ATM to get cash and suggested Eco Bank, as that is the bank I use, but he raised a valid point that the Eco Bank in Ikeja always had a lot of people and suggested we go to Stanbic (along Oba Akran road).
N.B I only agreed to this because on sighting the Ecobank, there were truly a lot of people on the queue so we went to Stanbic and I withdrew the agreed amount and paid him.
After handing him the money and walking a few metres, two thugs began to harass the guy for doing a deal and threatened to take him to the police station, naturally he denied dealing and said I was just typing my number on his phone (during this talks he handed me a bundle with a #500 note covering all other notes and asked me to hand him the phone) because of this to make the play more realistic, I gave him the phone since he had said I was just typing my number.
After this, he said he had to get the thugs of his tail and asked where to meet to complete the deal and I gave him a spot. Knowing Computer Village, I knew it was a bad idea to go to the agreed location and boarded a bus going to Ogba. It was when I was in the bus I decided to count the money to at least check if it was complete or not, I took out the bundle, counted the first N500 note, the second and just when I was to count the third, I discovered that it was paper that was left in the bundle.
Quickly I asked to get off the bus (not minding that I had already paid the fare) and began to search for the guy even though I knew it was close to impossible. After a few minutes,I gave up and decided to go home although I had lost over half of the money I was meant to use in the purchase of the phone...
Now you see the crazy thing is that when I realised I had just got conned, after the initial fury, I became amused because knowing Computer Village so well and being a big hustle and leverage fan, I'd think such scams couldn't work on me.
Most Nigerians in this situation would think they had been jazzed but being an avid studier of human behaviour and psychology, I understood why the con had worked.
1. The guy looked familiar so I didn't see him as a threat.
2. He made it seem like he just needed the money and didn't really need the phone (he had an S4 with him)
3. His suggestion to go to the Stanbic bank was a logical one so I didn't read any bad meaning to it.
4. He supposedly handed me my money (I did not notice the switch take place at all as I was distracted by the two thugs behind us).
5. I told him I had to travel that night and he seemed really scared for me because it was almost 7pm and I'd be travelling at night.
6. The acting on his part was top notch (nigga deserves an Oscar mane)
As I earlier stated, I was totally amused that he was able to con me because really he does not have any rep in Villa (I mean I had done deals with more notorious and thuggish looking guys without any hiccups before........ And I pretty much know all the tricks in the C.V handbook, I just fell because I was in a hurry and because he convinced me the phone was his.
Now the rules that I ignored which got me to owing a somewhat heavy sum;
1. As far as money goes, do not pay until you're in a secure location (I paid him in front of the bank) "dumb" yes I know.
2. Never hand back the package: This is pretty much the most important rule by far, one which I have known for more than a few years but still blatanly ignored. You should know that once you have tested a phone or any device for that matter and it is confirmed working, you should never give it back unless you are yet to pay and are no longer interested in the deal/purchase.
Now as far as getting the guy goes, this is something I can easily do only that he is going to deny everything heavily and make a fight out of it. This can't happen because I can't fight on the streets of Ikeja because people know me there...So for me to actually catch him (trust me I have a plan to actually do so, I would need the help of at least two police men who do not have any shady deals with Computer Village boys and I'd even pay them for their time... So if you are, or know any police men who would be interested in this little adventure (or misadventure of mine as the case may be), you should mail me at justgotconned@gmail.com and you'd know you helped to kinda straighten a crook.
The saying is "you can't cheat an honest man". I am an honest man but I was cheated because I was desperate.
That was how my day went yesterday Friday, 09/05/2014.
P.S- This all happend between 06:15 and 06:40pm.
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