Scam Alert! Top 5 Coronavirus Scams You Should Avoid
Protect Yourself from Scammers and Fraudulent Activities
You’d think because of the pandemic, scammers would take pity on innocent people. But it’s the opposite. This time, they’ve learnt other ways to defraud people, asides the common online scams we know all about.
As we Nigerians would say, “This period, Eye dey red”.
With the number of coronavirus cases on the rise, fraudsters are actively scamming innocent and struggling Nigerians of their hard-earned money.
“Scammers are trying to take advantage of the pandemic situation to dupe people,”, INTERPOL, a transnational police organization warned.
You could be the next scam victim. Here are 5 scam alerts, common to the COVID-19 pandemic, you should avoid;
- · Palliative Scam
- · Customer Service Scam
- · Cryptocurrency Scam
- · Pyramid Scheme
- · Goods Scam
Palliative Scam
With the government and other individuals distributing palliatives to some poor people in Nigeria, scammers have keyed into this honest act and turned it into an avenue for defrauding people.
You might receive a call from someone who pretends to be in charge of the distribution of palliatives on behalf of the federal government and asking you to send details of your bank account or other personal information. The person will sound honest and understanding, but it’s a scam meant to withdraw all the money in your account.
What to do “Do not accept calls from an unknown person purporting to be in charge of distribution of palliatives and asking you to send details of your bank account,”, Ibrahim Magu, The Acting Chairman of EFCC, said.
Customer Service Scam
Have you ever gotten a call from someone who poses to be a customer care representative from your bank? They’ll tell you that the bank made a mistake while creating your account and they need your personal information to correct the problem.
The personal information might be your Bank Verification Number (BVN), date of birth, ATM card details, a code sent by your bank (OTP), or any other information they might need.
SCAMWARNER! If you give them the information they ask for, they can withdraw all the money in your account in just minutes.
What to do Don’t give out your details to anyone who asks over a phone call, posing to be from your bank. Your bank will never call to verify your info.
Cryptocurrency Scam
With cryptocurrency like Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Ripple on the rise, Nigerians are investing in what we call, ‘the currency of the future’.
Recent studies have shown that Nigeria’s transactional value of Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer lending outsized all African countries totaling ($18,599,579).
Fraudsters, in this case, crypto-criminals, are using this opportunity to scam thousands of Nigerians: selling fake coins, pretending to be buyers and sellers of cryptocurrency, creating fake Ethereum sites, and creating Ponzi schemes to steal your money.
What to do Avoid any company that promises huge returns on your cryptocurrency investment. Before you buy or sell cryptocurrency to any dealer, be 100% sure the dealer is legit. Instead of buying or selling cryptocurrency directly, escrow the funds, this will secure your money and make sure your dealer is legit.
Middletrust provides a secure escrow for cryptocurrency transactions. Click here to learn more.
Ponzi Scheme
I’m sure you’ve heard of pyramid schemes. A pyramid scheme promises you huge profits based on the number of people you invite to join. The money got from the new-comers will pay the existing members until it all comes crashing down and hundreds of people lose a lot of money. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cash are the major currencies used for Pyramid schemes.
What to do Stay away from any organization that asks you to pay a certain amount of money, without giving you products, and asking you to invite more people to get paid.
Goods Scam
Have you ever seen something you liked in an online store, but you were too scared to buy? It was just the right price for you. And so fine, you wish you could order it straight away. But you didn’t, because of the fear of scammers.
Sellers also, face this problem. You sell beautiful stuff, and someone asks to order. But the person seems shady so you avoid, “stories that touch”, and ignore the buyer.
What to do Secure all your business transactions using escrow to hold your funds. Click this link to learn how escrow can protect you from scammers.
Tell us About Your Scam Experience
We can’t talk about all the COVID-19 scams to avoid in one article. So please, tell us about your scam experience in the comments section.
Remember, talking about your scam experience will educate others, and make sure they don’t go through the same pain you went through.
Do your part in fighting fraud in Nigeria!
It doesn’t have to be your personal scam experience, it could have happened to your family and friends. Or one you heard happened somewhere.
So, tell us about your scam experience and what you did about it. You can also talk about how to avoid it, and the red flags people should take note of.
