Is there an advertised auction sales from which you are hoping to reap bountifully? Events in recent times dictate that you should be more circumspect in embracing such an offer. Hundreds of Nigerians are daily falling prey to fraudsters by falling for offers of cheap valuable items, particularly the one advertised on the Internet. The Nation investigation revealed that the social media have become particularly notorious for such adverts through which unsuspecting internet users fall prey to the conmen.
The items on offer include automobiles, textiles and vehicle spare parts among others. After advertising the goods purportedly meant for auction, the scammers their innocent respondents to a fake warehouse and show them sealed containers purportedly containing the items that had been advertised. The victims would then be given a bank account in which they would deposit the sums they intend to pay for the items they are interested in. But once payment is made, the fraudsters vanish into thin air and their victims would never set their eyes on them or the goods they had paid for.
A typical case is that of one Elder Afolabi Oni, a retired civil servant who wanted a fairly used Toyota Camry car and was introduced to a man named Danladi Wushishi and his wife, Ojuolape. The couple allegedly claimed they had cars they wanted to auction but would need advanced payments with which they would clear the cars at the port. It turned out that Oni was courting serial fraudsters who had already fleeced hundreds of unsuspecting people of their hard earned moneys. In the end, Oni lost the sum of N1.2m to the couple.
Recalling the incident in a chat with our correspondent, Oni said: “I met the woman and her husband through one of my relatives named Olowe when I wanted to buy a Tokunbo (fairly used) Toyota Camry car in 2010. The woman in question used to live in an estate belonging to the Nigerian Army in Abule Egba area of Lagos before she moved into a hotel in the neighbourhood.
“She told me that she had a container of vehicles, including the type of car I was looking for. I had no cause to doubt her because she even showed me a bill of laden for the goods. She however said she needed some money to clear the container from the port and I gave her N1.2 million.
“It was after many months of failing to deliver the vehicle that I asked for a refund. I began to pile pressure on her to refund my money but she issued me a dud cheque. Since then, I have not been able to retrieve my money from her.”
The 63-year-old indigene of Ekiti State said he had given up on the matter until he read in a Saturday edition of The Nation newspaper that the couple had been arrested by the police.
He said: “I had lost any hope of getting my money back from the coupe until I was told that the woman and her husband had been arrested by the police and that their story was published in The Nation a few Saturdays ago. Now, I want to retrieve my money from the heartless couple because it is my sweat.”
Police sources said the couple had allegedly been using the moneys they duped people of to avoid justice until they were arrested after one of the couple’s numerous victims filed a petition to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko.
A police source said: ”The husband has been detained for defrauding someone to the tune of N19 million, which the Command’s ‘X’ Squad is still handling. The case is likely to be transferred to SARS (State Anti-robbery Squad) for discreet investigation. It was the case in which his wife allegedly posed as his sister in order to secure his bail.
“It is likely that their arrest by SARS will alert many of their victims who are still looking for them.”
Before then, two traders, Chinyere Uzorchukwu and Nkechi Anokwuru, had fallen victim to the couple .The couple allegedly hoodwinked the two women with a fake customs allocation paper to auction 437 bales of textile materials valued at N8.6 million.
In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, another victim of the couple, who identified herself simply as Hajia Oluwakemi, recalled how she was defrauded of N8 million in an auction sales that never was.
Oluwakemi said: ”I fell into their trap a few years ago when Danladi (Wushishi) told me he had some goods to auction. He said the goods would be auctioned by customs men at the port and I was taken in by the papers he presented, not knowing that they were fake. Not only did I lose N8 million, I also lost my job as a result of the deal because I borrowed the money from various sources including my office.
“Apart from that, the couple also defrauded my father to the tune of N1 million. As I speak, I am yet to get out of the mess I found myself as a result of the transaction. I know of three other persons who have been defrauded by Danladi and his wife through the auction sale scam. They moved from one part of Lagos to another in order to avoid being caught by their victims.
“Danladi had once been arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but he ran away after he was granted bail. It was at EFCC’s office that his path and that of his wife, Ojuolape, crossed. Ojuolape had also been apprehended by the anti-graft agency following a petition from some that she too had duped.
“Contrary to what I have read in the papers that Danladi claimed he has several landed properties he could sell to defray the money he had dubiously collected from innocent people, I can tell you that he does not have more than a building and a plot of land somewhere in the Akute area of Ogun State.
“However, I have been praying to God to avenge for me on the heartless couple for ruining my life, and I am happy that with their arrest by the police, my prayers have been answered.“
Yet Hajia Oluwakemi is not the last victim of the fake auctioneer couple. One Mr. Livinus had also lost N19 million to the couple in another fake auction sales. Wushshi admitted that he had not received any container since he collected money from his victims.
It is becoming a fad for unscrupulous elements to pose as senior customs officers on the internet where they also post fake cars meant for sale at rock bottom prices.
In one of such messages posted by one Custom Johnson (sic) on his Facebook account recently, he asked people to purchase cars of different makes at ridiculously low prices.
The message reads: ”Nigeria Custom (sic) impounded auction cars… at a cheaper rate, we deal with (sic) all kind of cars: Mercedes Bnez (sic) M500,N600,000, Toyota Camry (tiny light 2.2 model), N350,000; Toyota Sienna-N450,000; Nissan Xtera,N400,000; Nissan Murano SUV N600,000; Nissan Pathfinder (2000-2010 model)N650,000; Toyota Highlander- N700,000; 2003 Toyota Corolla,N650,000.850,000; Toyota Prado=800,000; Toyota RAV4=450,000; Camry 2012 model=550,000; Toyota Yaris=350,000; Toyota Matrix=2005=450,000=2006=550,000, Range Rover=1.5, Golf 3 GOLF 4=250,000=300,000, Toyota Avalo=2001=350,000=2010=450,000, Toyota Hiace=2000=2006 Hummer bus=850,000, Toyota Corolla 2003=2006=350,000=400,000, Lezus RX 2005=600,000, Honda CRV=1998=2001=450,000, Honda Accord 2001=2003=350,000=2004=450,000.
“Feel Free to call for any of the year model of car you are interested on (sic).”
In their desperation, the scammers frequently trend into online conversations wherein they announce the auction sales. In one of such incidents in September 2013, one Johnson Umeugoji, who claimed to have seen one of such announcements on the social media, contacted the announcer who identified himself as Peter Amune. As usual, the deal went awry after Peter had allegedly paid N200, 000 into Amune’s bank account in Auchi, Edo State.
“The scale fell off Johnson’s eyes after Amune told him to come to a customs warehouse in Agbara, Lagos where a purported car auction was to take place. He soon found that he had been duped as there was no such thing as an auction when he got there. He reported the matter to police and the suspect was arrested in Auchi after a manhunt by detectives.
Commenting on the incident, the spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, said: ”Peter (Amune) resides at Osomurika Road, Igarra in Edo State, but he committed the crime in Agbara, Ogun State. He was, however, arrested in Auchi, Edo State on September 16, 2013 and will soon be charged to court at the completion of investigation.”
In January 2013, an Enugu-based business man, Obiekwe Chigozie , who wanted to buy a 2010 Toyota Camry as a gift for his mother thought he had landed a good offer on the internet. Unknown to him, he was dealing with a fake auction sales syndicate. The price of the car was given as N400,000 and he was asked to pay N100,000 deposit into an account belonging to a member of the syndicate. The said account was domiciled in one of the branches of a commercial bank in Minna ,Niger State. Shortly after the money was confirmed to have been deposited in the bank, the syndicate cut off all lines of communication with Obiekwu.
Luck however ran out on the conmen when one of them named Musa went to the bank to withdraw the money and was promptly arrested by operatives of the EFCC who had been put on the alert by the distraught Obiekwu.
In a recent statement, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) warned members of the public to disregard the activities of internet auction sale syndicates, saying: “They use many ploys, but the most popular is using fake Facebook accounts opened in the name of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr. Dikko Abdullahi. You are therefore deceived to believe that you are chatting with the Comptroller General of Customs who might even refer you to an officer in Seme Border or any department of the Service.
“Beware, the discussions that will eventually lead to a request that you pay some money into some private account is pure scam. Many have been scammed. They are fraudulent. Don’t patronise them.”
In the same vein, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tin Can Island Port, Mr Chris Osunkwo, explained that the NCS does not conduct online auction sale of goods, urging people to desist from patronizing such websites where such sales are announced, as they are created by scammers to deceive people.
Osunkwo said: “The auction exercise conducted by the Nigerian Customs is a continuous exercise whereby an interested buyer applies and if successful, obtains a letter of allocation from the Customs headquarters in Abuja. Those who auction items or vehicles through Facebook are scammers.”
“The Nigerian Customs usually floats two types of auctionseizure auction (SA) and the overtime type. While the former is done for items/vehicles seized by the NCS, the latter is overseen by a designated committee.”
He explained further that there is a process for every auction exercise and that no individual can single-handedly allocate items or vehicles to a potential buyer.
