ETIM EFFIONG
The Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos, which is also in charge of Ogun State, has received a series of petitions about the fraudulent activities of criminals within Lagos and Ogun states.
It was learnt that fraudsters go about seeking businessmen/women (who deal in building materials) who advertise their goods through various social media platforms and look for potential buyers of such goods.
The Zonal Police Public Relations Officer, SP Hauwa Idris Adamu, said on Monday that the criminals usually contact dealers who advertise the goods on social media platforms and act like genuine buyers while they order goods in large quantities.
She noted that the fraudsters also act like genuine dealers to their prospective victims and give about 3% to 5% discount in order to entice their prospective victims.
“Upon indication of interest, the prospective buyer will be lured into making payment. Having made payment, the fraudsters will then give instruction to the dealer on the other hand to load the number of goods requested by the victim with the pretext that payment will be made and confirmed on delivery before offloading of the goods.
“When it has been confirmed that goods have arrived destination, the fraudster then goes incommunicado while the driver will be the one having issues with the victim who already made payment and has been expecting delivery of goods paid for; this is always done mostly on Fridays to prevent any kind of banking system retrieval,” she added.
Adamu stated that based on the above, the command has created awareness to the public and urged that with the information so provided, the command is confident that Nigerians will not fall victim to the antics of the fraudsters that pretend as business clients.
According to her, while passing a very strict warning to all criminally-minded groups or individuals to relocate from the zone, adding that they will not find it easy to operate within the Zonal Command.