*Jeshna fell victim to a Facebook scam that left her reeling, as she was convinced through a series of Facebook messages. “They didn’t sound like my friend at all, but they managed to persuade me to send them money,” she confides.
A woman in her thirties lodged a complaint with the police for “Computer Misuse”. An impostor, posing as her friend on Facebook, suggested an investment plan to swindle her out of a significant sum of money. According to the police, the scammers operate from abroad.
There has been a rise in Facebook scams, with the latest involving impersonation of victims’ friends to extort money from them. Jeshna, 33, found herself caught in this web.
Working in customer service within the hospitality industry, she recounts how her friend Joe’s Facebook account was hacked. “They hacked my friend’s account and only communicated with me in English…,” she says.
The scammer ignored her Creole messages and insisted on communicating solely in English, discussing an investment project.
However, Jeshna didn’t fall into the trap immediately. She began to have doubts upon noticing the change in Joe’s messaging style.
“I’ve known this friend for a long time; we used to chat, but suddenly, he’s only writing in English,” she notes, intrigued by this discrepancy. She decided to scrutinize her inbox.
However, the scammer had more tricks up their sleeve. Gradually, they convinced their victim by claiming to have made substantial profits from the investment project themselves.
Believing she was dealing with her friend, Jeshna felt reassured, especially as he sent her several messages and screenshots purportedly showing his “amazing earnings.” “He told me to trust him and invest Rs 3,000 to start,” she recalls.
Eventually, she was persuaded of the project’s reliability. She then contacted the scammer via WhatsApp, who sent her a screenshot supposedly proving payments made into her account.
Initially asking for Rs 3,000, then Rs 5,000, she complied. However, she smelled a rat when Joe demanded an additional Rs 10,000. “If you give me this Rs 10,000, you’ll get Rs 400,000,” he promised.
It was too good to be true, and that’s when she realized she was dealing with an online scammer.
Unaware that they had been found out, the scammer asked for an additional Rs 5,000, claiming it was for transferring Rs 500,000 in earnings to Jeshna’s bank account.
However, she had already realized her Facebook account was compromised. She immediately ceased communication with the scammer.
Later, she discovered messages had been sent to some of her Facebook friends, proposing the same investment plan. “They use this modus operandi, creating a local profile to gain trust more easily,” the victim shares.
After consulting her bank, she realized no money had been transferred to her account. “It was all fake, but they manipulated me well to convince me,” she says, dismayed.
Last week, she filed a complaint with the police and provided screenshots for the investigation. It was a well-executed scam. Jeshna acknowledges she won’t get her money back.
However, she chose to speak out to warn others online. “I know I won’t get my money back, but I’m speaking out because I don’t want others to suffer like me,” she tells Défi Plus.
She added that she has already warned her Facebook friends and especially her relatives about the scammer’s modus operandi.
In fact, the scammer attempted the same scheme with one of her cousins. “My cousin had the same thing happen; they added her from my friend list.
Everyone should be cautious before sending any money, verify if it’s all true, check the comments,” she concludes.
On the police side, they affirm that tracking down the perpetrators of such fraudulent acts is complex.
“Often, they operate from abroad, and the money is quickly transferred to virtual accounts, online wallets, making them difficult to trace,” say investigators from the Cybercrime Unit.
*Fictitious name
Source: Defi Media
