There are a lot of parasites (fraudsters, tricksters, swindlers, suckers, crooks, ‘sakawa’, 419, name them...) in town these days, especially on the streets of Accra, Ghana. People of varied ages; from the elderly to the
youngsters, both male and female ... all engage in fraudulent activities on the streets of Accra.
They come with varied schemes either using the holy name of God (very religious), charitable solicitations, children, deceased spouse, sick relations, hospitalization, business opportunities, and career development opportunities etc to weigh your humanity.
Some monitor your daily activities, others spy, and some solicit information from unsuspecting friends or neighbours, while others use sheer rip-off intelligence.
Whichever strategy they may employ, their goal is to explore your vulnerabilities and use them to the max. Sure! You may be intelligent, know better and even pride yourself in your smartness for never falling prey to any kind of game. But…..until you are pulled right in, you may perceive yourself as Smarter with the abilities to rule your world………
Now I share this sad experience publicly to arm you with information so you don't fall victim to these Heinous Inhuman Suckers (H.I.S).
……Having made friends with a ‘stranger’ who chanced on me on phone (dialed my number) 2 months ago, I least suspected him as a ‘prophet of doom’. He introduced himself as [George Asante (fake identity)] a pharmacist practising in UK with some white friends.
Having familiarized himself with me through several phone conversations, he called me with 00447045719128 (UK T-mobile) to give me a mobile number (MTN 0244…..) of a bogus importer (Dr. Asumah) based in Ghana who imports Moringa Powder from ROCHE PHARMACEUTICALS INC in South Africa to Ghana, {same source as he (George Asante) imports from South Africa to England} to contact and order some Moringa Powder on his behalf since, his orders for Moringa stock from the Manufacturer in South Africa had proved futile. According to him, the manufacturers (ROCHE PHARMACEUTICALS INC) had run out of stock and could only honour his request in six months, because ROCHE PHARMACEUTICALS INC, the manufacturers had a tall list of orders to supply in the pending 6 months before his turn.
I asked a great deal of questions and like many fraudsters he could provide suitable answers to all the questions. Just like any other swindler, he knew what to say, how to say it…… He was very persuasive and knew all of the angles using all types of excuses, explanations, and offers to lead *me and my money * away from common sense.
After a short deliberation and varied opinions from friends, I decided to take the risk…because of the outrageous profits I was going to earn from the business, thus buying a sachet of Moringa Powder at a reduced price of GH¢100 from (Dr. Asumah) and selling to Heink (the so-called Director of the Pharmacy in England) who agreed to, in turn, pay $100 for each sachet of Moringa Powder, I went helter skelter borrowing and discontinuing my investments to earn more…in my addled mind I really thought I was ‘winning’, ……
..I was made to buy a sample for verification in their lab in the UK, after which I was lured to invest more.… Heink (director of the syndicate) called to inform me that the sample he received was perfect same as the ones they import from SA, hence he needed a billion dollar worth of the Moringa Powder…he was sending down money through (Alex) his contacts in Tema to buy more from me. I yielded to everything I was asked to do………..Little did I know,………………………………….
I went soliciting loans from various sources including terminating my fixed deposits. In all, I could raise GH¢20,000 which I hurriedly contacted the bogus importer (Dr. Asumah) to do the supply. He, in turn, sent his warehouse attendant {(Kofi) fake identity} do the delivery.., (meanwhile, the fake UK pharmacists were in close contact with me).
Just upon the receipt of the payments (GH¢20,000) from me, Kofi the warehouse attendant sped off in the taxi cab he came with, then suddenly all the mobile phones of the syndicate (Heink, George Asante, Dr. Asumani, Kofi and Alex) went off.
YES THAT WAS MY END! THEY HAD SWINDLED ME LIVE AND COLORED IN A BROAD DAY LIGHT……………………
…SURE!!! THE LAZY COCOONS who reap where they have not sown succeeded in putting me in pain.
THE PRICE I PAID FOR TRUSTING PEOPLE IS GH¢20,000. YOU DON’T WANT TO EXPERIENCE THIS !!!!
Please beware of them; on the phone, on internet, in mails/e-mails, in person – it’s all the same when it comes to fraudulent offers from unscrupulous manipulators of the con game.
Hang up the phone on strangers who may engage in ‘unnecessary conversations’
Hang up on strangers who call you with ’hidden identity’ their caller ID either appears as 00000, private number, no number, etc
Do not respond to shady mailings or emails.
Do not be too open to share or give out financial/banking information to strangers.
Do not embrace every investment (all that glitter may not gold)
Never believe any quick money making offers.
Never give out your personal information to anyone for any reason that you do not know and cannot verify 100%
Education, good judgment, and a healthy dose of skepticism are the best defenses against becoming a victim. Educate yourselves and . . if it sounds too good to be true –
IT IS A FRAUD! Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!
They are very persuasive and know all of the angles using all types of excuses, explanations, and offers to lead *you and your money * away from common sense.
They make you guilty for when they sense an "attack on their integrity" (questioning them)
They won’t rush you through to make you suspicious of their activities …even if it has to be a year or two; they have all the time in the world for you.
They operate every bit of information they have gathered about you through the naivety and ignorance of close relations, neighbors or even by yourself. (be watchful of the information you give out)
There are not enough warnings, There are not enough Radio and/or T.V. shows about the subject, There are not enough catches (arrests), There is not enough being done to stop these SUCKERS from feeding on innocent blood……………
My favourite quote now is:
DO NOT TRUST ANYBODY NOT EVEN YOURSELF because given a situation people (you) can do anything to survive…… even when they (you) have to kill to survive they (you) will.
These times are turning darker and darker… in this part of the world. …………………I will forever be sorry for falling into this trap and sorry for other naïve people who are ignorant of these fraudulent activities… I will be, for who knows who will be next after me.
Please help in the fight against fraudulent activities …….… Report every suspicious person(s), phone calls, mails/e-mails…etc………………everyone is at risk, they have various strategies and avenues of pitching their frauds…
You can share this with friends and relations….........who knows! you could be saving a loved one from falling prey to 'DOGS'.
