The internet is no more a safe place for social relations. Most
Nigerians act under the self deceit that their mission online is just for the
purpose of making friends and probably networking. It amazes me how people play
hypocrites and act as if they don't know what they want. Firstly, friendship is
like a structure you build over time. I am not disputing the fact that real
friends can be made online. Internet is just a place for fun when people just
wake up to assume unreal identities. Why will someone want to build a world or
friendship around such? As for networking, what will a lady that has no
business to run, idea to sell or professional service to render in exchange for
money network with others? Probably she wants to connect with what she has
under legs.
Dating online in the year 2005 and probably down till 2011
was quite clean. I remember my days on Hi5.com, Myspace.com, and the Yahoo
messenger chat room. We never really had real pictures, so some people chatted
with their passport photographs which was quite hilarious before the advent of
Smartphones which high quality pictures and videos. Then the internet was like
a luxury before the introduction of simple and cheap data plans in the year
2010 with MTN leading the course. Chatting online used to be highly restricted
as most ladies used their credit directly to chat. Only the privileged ones
could afford Blackberry Smartphones with the high cost of subscription. The
frequent internet users were more of people connecting specifically with a
family member or members abroad. The others were up to nefarious activities
like internet scam. I remember in the year 2008 when you will send a friend
request to a Nigerian lady living in Nigeria and I will probably take her
another week during a short session at the cyber cafe to respond. You could
only get prompt responses when you message a foreigner on Facebook or probably
a Nigerian living abroad.
Flirty deals were clean with comfortable ladies using the
internet. The success stories were quite impressive. Personally, I am a great
achiever in the field of online dating where I kick-started my online career
with some amazing relationships that I still wish I could turn back the hands
of time to experience once more.
In no time the ''runs'' girls or let me call them
"aristos" embraced the concept of 'online marketing'. The idea of
standing by the road side pretending to be heading to an unknown destination or
going to busy places like the cinemas, restaurants, social events and others to
meet prospective men became archaic. They stormed the social media with raunchy
photos and the market became competitive highly competitive. This could be
likened to the event turn-out in the English Premier league when the Arab oil
tycoons invested in Manchester city. Every corner started boiling with bids. It led to a situation where a lady with only
one profile picture will receive 50 flirty messages in a day. A female friend
of mine once opened an account on Facebook without a profile picture, when the
horny guys saw her female-tagged profile; they started pleading with her to
upload her pictures claiming they know she is beautiful. Can you imagine? The
attention was sickening.
The ladies became self-acclaimed celebrities with guys
pleading for their phone numbers on their timelines and uploaded pictures. It
became a game of the highest bidder. The richest guy would win the lady after
passing series of assessment tests ranging from calls, text messages, providing
money for her data plans, funds for the making of her hair, other upkeeps and
then her final transport fare to your place. This was still better. Although,
the goods were exorbitant, they were still delivered to the final consumer.
Nowadays, there is a new trend. We now have ladies bringing
the concept of ‘‘Yahoo Yahoo'' ( internet fraud) from the international to the
local level. Ladies demand for cash from guys in the form of recharge cards
mostly for the transport fare and they will NEVER come. A strong research has
revealed that most guys also pose as females to con unsuspecting guys. They are
on popular social media platforms like Badoo, Eskimi, Smiggle, bbpins.com and a
host of others. Facebook is their headquarters. The simple truth about them is
that the smartness and intelligence is absent. If you are very observant, you
will identify them easily before falling for the scam. The following loopholes
will exposes them:
1).
They don't use original names. They use most of fake English names as their
first name and surname which is so uncommon in Nigeria.
2).
On Facebook, their timeline is always dry or empty. Most occasions, their
Facebook wall is disabled so that nobody can post any incriminating claim there
which could deter her 'business'.
3).
The pictures are always few but really hot. She exposes her body without shame or
caution to attract all the randy men in the world.
4).
Her chat is always unserious and dry till the talk becomes highly financial.
She is only concerned about your location which must be far from hers to
facilitate the scam. She uses short chat terms like "ok"
"kkk" "yea" "cool" "nice" so
frequently. She will reply concrete messages with smileys because she has
nothing to say and the guys to be attended to are numerous.
5).
No matter the age her picture portrays, she is always a student. This gives her
a vantage position to demand for money since in Nigeria students are widely
believed to be financially dependent.
6).
She will rarely ask about your personal life, experience or details.
7).
She falls in love quickly. She uses sweet romantic names for you in the course
of chatting as early as the first minute.
8).
She is always too broke to come see you. And also, she always pushes to meet
you promptly.
9).
Her subscription is always set to expire the moment she starts to chat with
you. Hence, the need for you to send a recharge card to her.
10). Her voice is never clear on phone. This is peculiar to the males posing
as females who don't have ladies to pick calls for them. They either alter
their voices through the aid of a special Chinese phones with the technology or
tune their voices to that of a female. It works but a very observant man will
never fall for such gimmicks. A concentrated attention will give away the real
voice.
11). Some of them sell nude pictures. This is the funniest part and some dump
Nigerians will buy. This was very common to the 2go community. Nude pictures
were sold for as low as N100 or a dollar. This was a nice innovation to deal
with immature and impatient guys in the culture of seeing the nakedness of
ladies before meeting them. These smart scammers have a set of downloaded
internet unclad pictures which rhymes with their skin colours.
12). She will never question you where you got her BBM pin from or her phone
number. She plays alone. This is due to the fact that she has lost count of the
hundreds of social media platforms she had dropped her number. Messaging her
places you on the driver's seat immediately.
13). For the ones that collect funds through bank accounts, you will realize
the bank account name doesn't correspondent with her name or identity. She will
cover that up with some excuses, claiming that bank account belongs to her
brother or trusted friend. Trust me, that account name is her real identity.
Well I wish I could go further with my analysis of how to
spot them at a glance but the list is quite lengthy. The above are the cogent points.
It is quite despicable that Nigeria has gotten so marred with
economic hardships that teenagers and youths now resort to tough and cheap ways
to make money. Remember the hard hustle of political lobbying called TREKKING
started by Suleiman Hashimu for President Muhammadu Buhari from Lagos state
to Abuja, now we have adults engaging in petty online scam for quick recharge
of phones. Who knows if some elderly men have also been indoctrinated into the
dirty acts.
My advice is that the perpetrators of this shameful act
should desist from it. Never beg for money online. It doesn't dignify you. Work
for your own money no matter how small to boost your self-esteem. Never
constitute nuisance to others.
There are petty jobs you can do for a start but a lot of
Nigeria who are virtually empty feel so big and not ready to start small or
settle for less. The irony of it is that work experience will always count and
most people have nothing tangible to offer the firms set to employ them.
Nevertheless, keep meeting people online, keep dating. It is always
interesting to come across new people and get to know them. We have had several
success stories of married couples that met online and their unions are waxing
stronger every day. So on this note; never give up on the hunt for love.
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