University Admission Gone Bad
Happy New Week Steemians,
A very Big Thank you to @swissclive for such an opportunity as this to bring to the fore the very disturbing issue of scamming and scammers.
It was in 2011, when I first wanted admission to study Law in any European country, I had interest in Belgium or Spain, so I began to fiddle my computer for online entries about schools outside that were currently admitting for my choice Course LAW.
I tried for months until I saw a facebook advertorial about a school that was currently admitting, it also had options of scholarship to foreign students, oh my God? I nearly ran mad, that was the answers to my prayers I thought.
Desperation was getting a better grip of me.
Never forget this point, that the first step to being scammed, duped, deceived as the case may be is desperation.
Oh my God, when you allow desperation take hold of you, it blinds your sense of reasoning and judgement. I can remember my mom telling me she wasn't certain it was real because their facebook page didn't receive much traffic as in the case of schools that were widely known and attended.
Before one could say Jack Robinson I was already processing the "admission" they had sent me an email link which I had commenced working on, then a token few of $50 was requested which I got from my uncle in the government and various other relatives. I didn't care to tell mom and dad again at this point.
Scammers capitalize and operate on the vulnerability, ignorance and gullibility of their victims.
Truth is, at some point u started feeling it wasn't authentic but psychologically I felt too lazy to retreat. I kept sending messages via email and text. Then the day I was given to travel to Abuja, the Nation's capital for my visa proceedings came.
I woke very early to prepare to catch my flight which I had already booked a day to that day, then o began to dial the contact I was given to call that day, lo and behold, the number was no longer reachable and to crown it all, their facebook page was deleted and all possible links used in all the process revoked.
It was at this moment my eyes opened, I began to tell others might ordeal, I found out that they used different phone numbers to call other people and worked as a team. Sometimes you could speak with a lady, another time a man.
Scammers work as a team most times, where they are alone, then definitely under cover agents are working for them.
After the scales fell off my eyes, for a moment, I felt like chilled water was poured on my head. It reverberated in my mind for years, till today am so apprehensive about people, I hardly trust humans these days.
I couldn't really pay them back but really I couldn't trust people anymore and I stopped taking anything online too serious.
Scams make people lose trust in others, therefore creating fear and panic everywhere. This was my story few years back, but today am a law graduate from a Nigerian University.
picture from my facebook page
Thank you very much @swissclive. This is my first time writing about this in public domain.
A scam and case is like a rape case, sometimes the victims don't find enough strength to tell others for fear of being mocked or laughed at.