Criminal Code by Omoruyi Uwuigiaren

Omoruyi Uwuigiaren

A smart thief will not tell you that he or she is about to rob you, especially now that the internet has made the world a small place. All they need is a positive response from you. Some people say they cast spell on their victim, but I doubt. Most of the time, the victim is the problem. Some want to make profit without breaking a sweat while others are just naïve and innocent. So they open the door. The human want is insatiable. Unlike the thief who aggressively robs you of your belongings on the highway, the fraudster connects to your need. He uses your need against you. However, some are duped solely because they trust people. They assume every human being on the face of the earth is honest or deserve to be trusted. Life is no bed of roses. Fraud is all about influence. The fraudster connects to your need and strike. Near, far, wherever you are, make sure you verify before committing to whoever connects to your need.

Once they start introducing several formats and professionally linking them together, it means the victim has nearly or fully committed to them. All the victim’s details are in their hands and they will use the details to their advantage. Once you fall into their trap, it will take providence for the victim not to be swindled.

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It is a tragedy to remain in a world you cannot control and all the more tragic if you do not have control over your own life. People who have surrendered leadership of their lives to others are always at the mercy of those they serve.

You must be able to discern. You are always far enough to decide whether to fall or not. Most people who are prey are either greedy, want to get rich quickly or too carried away to look closely at the details. No fraudster is immune to errors. You are likely going to see their flaws. It stares at you in the face. Some people ignore the red flag because of what they hope to gain while others are just too naive to read the writing on the wall. The fraudster is not all knowing. He’s miserably prone to errors. Always he leaves you with a clue about who he is or what he’s about to do. You cannot encounter a fraudster and not notice some flaws like exaggeration, lies, money, anxiety, frequent outburst of anger (sometimes they abuse you), short fuss, display of idiocy, aggression, domineering tendencies, harsh or foul language, poor grammar, rush, slow to respond to your questions but quick to direct you to do the next thing on his list, sometimes they don’t bother to respond to your query, typographical errors and poorly written letters.

Whatever format the criminal presents to you, he unknowingly leaves trail of errors that should ordinarily give him away. You are to hit the delete button once you are exposed to such emails or messages. Don’t allow it to fester. You are his target. He wants your money and he is ready to do anything to have it. He doesn’t care if you go broke or bankrupt afterwards. So why do you spare him a thought? Why do you think someone with millions of cash under his nose will want to part with it so easily? Why do you want to become a distributor, middle man in a business that you have no knowledge of? Yes, of course. There is no harm in trying. Why not test the credibility of the business or the person before committing your finances?

You are presented with a business that you actually have no knowledge about. I expect a reasonable person to meet a professional in that field and solicit advice. It will save you loads of cash in the long run. The professional will be able to spot the loopholes in the whole package and things that you readily see as inconsequential that would have cost you your life savings. One of the reasons why many people fall into the hands of fraudsters is that they tend to go secret about the deal. They suddenly develop cold feet, and fear that telling anyone including their loved ones and partners would put the deal in jeopardy. They don’t want to be discouraged. They don’t want anyone to share the benefits with them. So they keep the deal to themselves. You only hear of the deal once they are duped.  

We are in a world where vanity is king. Many people want to break even, get rich over night, drive big cars and if possible build castles in the air. The more you channel your effort to your regular job or legitimate course, the lesser the chances of you getting swindled.

Study the dialogue below. It’s between a man and a fraudster. He wanted to swindle the innocent man. This is a very simple format but it will get some unsuspecting people in trouble.

A man called me today. He introduced himself as my former electrician at Iba estate where I live.(I have never lived in an estate or Iba estate. Not to talk of having something to do with an electrician there. That was a red flag.)

Initially I thought it was a wrong number, so I wanted to drop the call but when he called my name and mentioned my wife, I knew I was in for a hard time. (I cannot remember having anything to do with any electrician in the estate.) He said he has relocated to Niger state in far away northern Nigeria and now works with 9mobile, a leading telecommunications company in Nigeria. He wants to buy wire and cable for his company, 9mobile.

Then I asked, "Why do you need me? I don’t know anything about wires and cables. You are an electrician. Why not just go to Alaba Int'l and get the things you want?"

He did not respond to my probe.

Instead, he tried to continue with his gist, hoping that I will hook onto his story. And once you are in, you will be fortunate to get out unhurt. Then he said he is sending his colleague to Lagos with large sums of money and that he wants me to be the sole distributor of cables and wire to 9mobile.

“Me?” I asked, laughing. That sounds nice to any greedy soul, but I was not moved. Hearing the large sums of money made me feel sick and I wanted to quickly get off the phone. But if I do that, I would have missed valuable lessons and experience. So I played along.

“Yes, you, Mr Omoruyi!” he answered.

I smiled and threw out another question, "I hope I will not spend a dime in all of this? I am ready to help you, but I don’t have any cash to spend."

He became angry and yelled at me, "Mr Omoruyi, you went to school? Didn’t you?”

“Yes!” I answered, “I went to school.”

He barked again, “But I just told you that my colleague is coming to Lagos with large sums of money! Please get your pen and paper. I want tell you what to buy with the money and call me back in 3 minutes."

The call dropped.

The underlined words, phrase or sentences above were the errors and loopholes in his conversation with me. They are easy to spot. Who on earth will easily want to part with very huge amount of money, especially to a friend or person that he has not seen for years? No prior contact, no emails and no phone calls to explain his that someone will be visiting me from Niger state. Suddenly you put your mate at the office on the road from the far northern state of Niger to embark on a journey of nearly two or more days to Lagos to buy wire. Why will 9mobile, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Nigeria descend so low that they will require the services of a novice like me to supply wires when they can easily browse the internet and engage companies that can do proper business with them? Again, the distance between Lagos and Niger state is huge. No sane mind will come all the way from Niger state to buy mere wires and cables in Lagos state. Don’t they consider cost, stress and pains it will take them to undertake such trip? You don’t need to come over to Lagos state to purchase wires running into millions of naira. There are companies in Niger state, Kano state or the entire north that can get the load off your back.

The lies, exaggerations, anger and errors were just too obvious. Sadly, there are people who will still fall for such a petty thief. Having considered all of this, I did not return the call.

Author Bio: Omoruyi Uwuigiaren is a Nigerian who writes middle grade adventure fiction and picture books. Some of his books include: The Adventures of Nihu, the City Heroes and other stories from the heart of Africa, the Mystery of Taiwo Da Silva, the Promised Land, Jane the Good Girl, Shadows in a River, the Little Okon and the Outside World, Giant in a Hut and the Little King. He is the founder of Ruyi's World of Books and Stories. His literary works and short stories have appeared on Moronic Ox Literary and Cultural Journal, Town Crier Times, the Story of a Writer, Qwerty Thoughts, the Guardian, and the Vanguard Newspapers. Download free books by the author here.