My Neighborhood Watch #134 - Reporting Events Around us
₦49,000 disappeared from my shop in less than five minutes — not through force, not through theft, but through a “successful” bank transfer that never entered the account. This is how it happened. This is my neighborhood watch, reporting even around me. Welcome.
Even when you try to be careful, scammers are getting smarter every day. I learned this the hard way last year when *I lost ₦49,000" to a fake bank transfer. I’m sharing this so others, especially business owners, don’t repeat my mistake.
What happened |
|---|
On December 27, 2025, business was slow. It was the festive period, a lot of people were preparing for parties, and the environment felt relaxed.
Around 12 noon, a man came into the shop and said he was buying drinks for a party later that night. He asked for the prices of Heineken and Chivita Active.
Heineken: ₦16,000
Chivita Active: ₦17,000
After a short back-and-forth, he agreed to buy:
2 bottles of Heineken = ₦32,000
1 Chivita Active = ₦17,000
Total: ₦49,000
He asked if we used POS. I said no, but I could call a POS operator. He said transfer was fine. I gave him the account number, and he transferred using OPay.
He showed me the receipt on his phone. The transaction status showed “successful.” I tried calling my boss to confirm the payment, but her phone wasn’t reachable at the time.
Because it was OPay and the receipt looked normal, I relaxed.
That was my mistake.
| The red flag I ignored |
|---|
When I asked him for his phone number so I could send the receipt for confirmation, I noticed something odd.
He was using two phones:
one Android phone
one button phone
When I asked for his number, he checked the button phone and acted like he didn’t know his own number. After a while, he finally called the number so my phone could capture it. When I called it back, it rang.
That should have been my warning sign.
But I ignored it.
I released the drinks, and he left.
When the truth came out
About an hour later, my boss returned my call. I asked her to check the account.
There was no alert.
No credit.
Nothing.
I called the number the man gave me. It rang once, then he rejected the call. After a few more tries, I was blocked.
Till today, I have never been able to reach him again.
That’s how two bottles of Heineken and one Chivita Active — ₦49,000 — disappeared.
| Mistakes I made |
|---|
❌ I released the goods without confirmation.
❌ I trusted the transfer because it was OPay
❌ I ignored obvious red flags.
Lessons I learned |
|---|
1. No confirmation, no goods.
You can always come back when the payment reflects.
2. There is no “safe” bank app.
OPay, PalmPay, bank transfer — if it hasn’t entered the account, it’s not real.
- Never let urgency pressure you.
Scammers rely on your silence, distractions, and politeness.
Final note
This happened in a normal neighborhood, in broad daylight, during a festive season when everyone was relaxed. Scams don’t always come with force or noise. Sometimes, they come with a smile and a “successful” receipt.
If this post saves even one person from losing money, then sharing it was worth it. Am inviting @woka-happiness, @entity01 @josepha to participate in this contest.
Cc;
@xkool24
Sounds like theft to me
0.00 SBD,
0.18 STEEM,
0.18 SP
Yeah......
Nothing wrong with that
Good afternoon mom
Good evening, are you hiding again son?
Not really...... Am out of the shell, there's a lot of heat wave inside the hole.
I had to come out for fresh air 🤣
Did I miss anything mom?
I doubt it. I live underneath a stone 🤣
I hope you be present a bit longer this time. What happened to your goal to post daily with that friend of yours?
Sincerely, this is sad. Before now, there was a misconception that some particular banks are used for fake alerts. But at you've rightly said, no bank is excepted.
As business operators, we should be good cautious. Only release goods upon confirmation.
But I believe it's set time your store purchases a POS machine as well. Or you have a device where you receive notifications as well. These scammers thrive where there are loopholes.
No stone should be left unturned by entrepreneurs. Because this is so disheartening.
You're actually correct..... we're working on the POS machine. I have make enquiry to collect.
One more thing.... I discovered one site that make you do transfer just like Opay but it fake.
I will share it on my neighborhood watch next week
These type of scams run all over the world.Sometimes we trust the human race because we feel like they are like us and their conscience would not let them cheat but it hurts sometimes. We must always be careful when receiving money digitally and must only accept the transaction once it is confirmed from our end. Anyways i believe that person who you cheated would return with what he owes you.
You believe that?
It is good for one to enjoy his or herself and I like how you have reported what happened at your place. Good luck to you
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Lessons are learnt in different ways, I'm sorry you hard to learn it the hard way. It's well friend.
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