There are loan companies, such as Palm Credit called Eazy Buy that offer loan services where you can buy a phone for 30% down and then spread out the 70% repayment plus interest over a six-month period.
Here’s how the scammer operates:
What the scammers do is they buy these phones and pay 30% e.g, if a phone costs N200,000 naira, they would pay N60,000 naira for it, and in the first month, before the first payment is due, they would then sell it to you the unsuspecting buyer at a very, very low price.
These scammers will try every trick in the book to get you to buy the phone and even as far as showing you proof of purchase (receipt) and how appealing the price of the phone is then ask you to pay N170,000 naira for the phone, saving yourself N30,000 naira on the actual purchase price of N200,000.
What you don’t realize is that after a few weeks, the phone will lock and stop working because the people who provide these loan facilities are not stupid. They know that many people will try to buy and default, so they need to be able to protect their investment by locking the phone if there’s a payment default.
The unsuspecting buyer has now lost N170,000 naira he paid the scammer for the phone and still owes the company that sold the phone another N140,000 naira for a phone worth N200,000 naira.
How can you avoid this type of scam?
– Avoid purchasing a phone because of their very cheap prices
– Buy only from verified online vendors or a registered phone outlet.
Source: Tiktok/ @kagantech
