A Lagos corps member, Chisom Ikenna (pseudonym), reported that she lost N250,000 to fraudsters who posed as genuine employers offering lucrative executive remote jobs. According to Ikenna, she initially believed that her life would improve overnight after securing what seemed to be a promising job. However, as she continued to spend her savings and take loans to impress her supposed employer, she realized that her situation had worsened dramatically.
Ikenna recounted that on June 30, she applied for an engineering position she saw advertised online, offering successful applicants $200 through WhatsApp. She was interviewed and hired within 48 hours by a man who introduced himself as Henry Okafor, a civil engineer, claiming to be the chief executive officer of Cole Constructions. Okafor briefed her on construction matters and instructed her to be Machiavellian in securing contracts.
On July 4, Okafor informed her about a N500 million deal and urged her to hijack it from competitors. Following his instructions, Ikenna paid N100,000 in cash as a bribe to an agent supposedly linked to the contract. Over time, she ended up spending a total of N250,000, expecting reimbursement from Okafor.
By August 17, Ikenna had depleted her funds and accrued debt. Despite this, Okafor continued to pressure her for more payments. Eventually, she discovered that Okafor and the agent were working together to scam her. When she confronted Okafor for a refund, he provided fake receipts and excuses, and ultimately stopped responding to her.
Attempts to reach Okafor were unsuccessful, as his phone line was switched off and he did not respond to texts.
Source:
fij.ng
