A man is speaking on the phone. He is nervous. On the other end of the phone is a lady. He wants to ask her if she loves him. But he hesitates. How will she react? What will she think? Does she love him too? They have been speaking to each other for a few weeks. And they have grown extremely close. He asks. She says yes. Everything seems perfect. Until there was a problem – a medical emergency. She told him she wouldn’t be able to talk to him for some time; that she would be busy taking care of a family member. Also, she needed some money – for the medical bills. Part II About 20 years ago, cybercafes were the rage. The internet was new. Computers were new – and expensive. Many people turned to cybercafes to surf the internet. Every area had one or two cybercafes. In the city of Lagos, Nigeria, the number of cybercafes was much higher than in other similar cities. The number of people inside was higher too. Eager people would queue to get inside and use the computers. Young boys were browsing the internet and spending time in chat rooms. One of the most common chat rooms back then was Yahoo. These young boys who spent their days in the cybercafes came to be known as Yahoo boys. Most of the Yahoo boys were in chat rooms trying to strike up a conversation with other men – while they pretended to be women. Their target? American men. Because they have money. It would start with a casual conversation about something absolutely random. Their aim was to talk to the men regularly – to develop a relationship. Obviously, a lot of men were not interested in talking to strangers. But some men were lonely. They fell for it. From the online chat rooms, some would exchange phone numbers. Then they would talk on the phone. Many Yahoo boys had mastered the art of changing their voice. Over the phone, they sounded like women.
The conversation would continue for some weeks. The Yahoo boy continued talking till he felt the relationship had enough trust. Then, he would ask the man on the other side of the phone for money. Why? An ‘emergency’ of some kind. Once the money was sent, the Yahoo boy would stop calling the man. This is a classic romance scam. Use fake pictures and images to fool someone into believing they are real women. Develop a close relationship with them. And then, find a way to get money from them. This is only one kind of scam. There are many other scams using emails, fake advertisements, phone calls, etc. Over the years, ‘Yahoo boy’ has become a relatively sizable industry in parts of Nigeria. Part 1 of this write-up is a fictional demonstration. Many young boys aspire to become Yahoo boys. To them, it seems like a path to riches. A lot of them are college-going boys who skip college – to be able to scam. The successful scammers are able to bribe the professors. Over the last 20 years, some things have evolved. Cyber cafes have reduced as the internet, smartphones, and computers have gotten cheaper. But the appeal of the Yahoo boys' career has not dipped. Newer methods and ways have been adopted. They have become even more sophisticated. Some argue the problem has only grown bigger. Songs are dedicated to Yahoo boys and the scamming profession. It is glorified and praised by parts of the society. An entire industry that supports the Yahoo boys has become stronger too – firms that help move money, set up shell companies, provide safe space from police, etc. Some Yahoo boys even believe in using witches and dark arts to bring good luck to their scams. Shamans or witches give them small items to keep in their mouths when calling. They carry out rituals and spells. Some scammers believe that witches and shamans are crucial in their operations. Scams It sounds stupid. And it really is just that – stupid. But some people still fall for these scams. Advance Fee: A person looking for a loan might be be fooled into believing that they are talking to a bank or lender. The scammer will ask such a person to pay a ‘processing fee’. After receiving the processing fee, the scammer will vanish. This is one of the most common kinds of scams: scammers offer a reward but want an ‘advance’ or ‘processing fee’ first. This is called an advance fee scam. There are many variations of this. A scammer may ask for an advance for loans, lottery prizes, jobs, paid holidays, gift hamper, etc. Jobs: Not having a source of income is a particularly bad place for any person. Scammers target such people because of the same reason they target lonely people in romance scams – they are more vulnerable. Impersonation: Impersonation is fast becoming a more widespread menace. People calling (or messaging) – and pretending to be from a bank or some other source that you deal with. Worse, in this age of AI, voice cloning is a new kind of scam altogether. That is still very high tech. It is much easier to make a convincing website and app – of banks, investment platforms, Aadhaar portal, income tax portal, UPI apps, etc. A link to these websites or apps is shared. And people enter sensitive details like user ID, password, PIN, Aadhaar, etc. Stay Alert Not all scams come from Nigeria. Almost all places in the world have scammers. With India’s smartphone and internet connectivity improving to excellent levels, we are already seeing scams centered around India. Nowadays, some scammers make use of UPI apps for fooling people. Coming across scams and scammers are an unavoidable part of our internet life. The only way to deal with them is to be alert. Don’t open unknown and suspicious links. Check who you are paying. Verify if the source is original. And always be careful about offers. It is a common saying – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Courtesy : Grow app | 