A Nigerian man recently shared how he narrowly avoided falling victim to a WhatsApp scam, preventing the loss of ₦135,000.
He initially received a message from his neighbor requesting urgent financial assistance. However, before proceeding with the transfer, he decided to verify the request by calling his neighbor via WhatsApp. When his calls went unanswered, he attempted a regular phone call but still received no response.
Moments later, his neighbor finally called back, sounding distressed. He urgently warned that his WhatsApp account had been hacked and was being used by scammers to defraud contacts. Unfortunately, another neighbor had already fallen victim, unknowingly transferring ₦135,000 to the fraudsters.
Reflecting on the incident, the man shared his experience on X (formerly Twitter), writing:
“Sometimes, it’s good to be broke.”
“On Saturday, I received a message from my neighbor asking me to send ₦135,000 to an account because he couldn’t access his own. I agreed and quickly handed my phone to my wife to make the transfer, as I was busy at that moment.”
“But just as I gave her the phone, I took it back to call my neighbor and confirm. Honestly, I don’t even know why I decided to confirm. I called him on WhatsApp and through a normal call, but he didn’t pick up. So, I thought, ‘If it’s really urgent, he’ll call back.'”
“Minutes later, he called me in a panic, shouting, ‘They’ve hacked my WhatsApp! Hope you haven’t sent any money? People have been calling me—our other neighbor already sent ₦135,000 to them!'”
“Omooo, I froze! Imagine if I had walked straight into debt just like that. The scammer kept reaching out to everyone, including me, until my neighbor finally retrieved his WhatsApp after 24 hours. Now, the big question is—what happens to our neighbor’s ₦135,000?”
This incident serves as a crucial reminder to always verify financial requests, even when they come from familiar contacts.
