It is clear that the devil has infiltrated social media to
perpetrate the most heinous activities one can dream of. The Internet, a
good resource and networking base, has unfortunately become a conduit
for the most sophisticated crimes in the world. Many banks and
corporations have lost huge sums of money, while many individuals have
been duped of their hard-earned cash by people they met on the
cyber-network. The executor comes in sheep’s clothing, seeking
friendship and later asking for what would appear a very innocent
favour, just to deceive and strike a vicious blow when one least
expects.
Such
was the scandalous lifestyle of Benson, a Nigerian living in Ivory
Coast. Born in 1976 in the midwest of Nigeria, he grew up to become an
Internet fraudster. But behind the mischief was another malevolent being
– a demon, which gave him the knack for hacking and raiding the
Internet to perpetrate terror.
Born
and raised in a polygamous and idol-worshipping home of four mothers,
Benson was the first born from his mother’s side. From a very young age,
he watched his father serve an iron god known as Idigun, while his
mother had her own deity, Olokun, a marine spirit. Unwillingly, he would
join the family in an infamous ritual, which involved bludgeoning dogs,
cooking and eating them in a sacrificial act to their family gods.
Little
did he know that although he detested such diabolical exercises, the
two idols had nonetheless possessed him and would soon begin to torment
him through criminal acts such as taking of illicit drugs. He also found
himself lusting for women wherever he went, and joined one of the most
notorious cult groups, Black Axe, while at university.
It
was through this bad company that he was introduced to Internet fraud,
at a time when he needed breakthrough, which was hard to come by. For 13
years, powered by the family idols, he prowled the Internet. He
patronised dating sites, searching for potential victims, on the pretext
of looking for love. When the friendship gathered steam, matured and
trust was established, the unsuspecting victims would be cunningly
defrauded of their money.
Sometimes,
he would use search engines to look for email addresses of naive
individuals. He would send them emails with touching stories they would
fall for. He had a deceitful template he would send out in bulk,
depicting a girl in her twenties who owned millions of dollars left for
her by her wealthy late father. This girl would be looking for someone
to help her transfer the funds from a dormant account to a safer
off-shore account. Whoever agreed to help her would receive a hefty
financial reward. Often, the girl would hail from a war-torn country and
her father, a former top government official or private individual, but
one who was filthy rich before his death or assassination. Blindfolded
by the smell of easy money, gullible people would not see what hit them
the moment they got involved.
Another
format depicted a sick old woman whose husband, also a rich man, left
huge sums of money for her. About to die, she would seek to give the
money away. She would have about one month to live and before she died,
she must have the money transferred to charity or otherwise. As soon as a
person showed interest, the game of defrauding would start.
To be continued:
Culled from the first issue of SCOAN magazine READ US.
To be continued:
Culled from the first issue of SCOAN magazine READ US.
