Matilda Omonaiye/
Police authorities at the Zone ‘2’ Headquarters in Lagos have raised the alarm on rising cases of fraudsters posing as middlemen to swindle traders.
In a statement issued at Zone ‘2’ Command today, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Adeyinka Adeleke exposed what he described as Illicit and Fraudulent Manner through which Criminals Operate and Their Modus Operandi.
AIG Adeleke, who is in charge of Lagos and Ogun State police commands, stated: “This is to inform the general public, especially businessmen and women on the illicit and fraudulent manner through which criminals operate and their modus operandi, series of petitions have been written to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Onikan Lagos that fraudsters now sought businessmen and women (who deal in sales of building materials, etc.) who advertise their goods through various social media platforms and also sought for potential buyers of such goods.
“The criminals will contact dealers who advertise such goods on social media platforms and act like genuine buyers while they order goods in large quantities. They also act like genuine dealers to their prospective victims and give about 3% to 5% discount to entice their prospective victims.
“Upon indication of interest, the prospective buyer will be lured into making payment. Having made payment, the fraudsters will then give instruction to the dealer on the other hand to load the goods requested by the victim with the pretext that payment will be made and confirmed on delivery before offloading of the goods.
“When it has been confirmed that goods have arrived destination, the fraudster then goes incommunicado while the driver will be the one having issues with the victim who already made payment and has been expecting delivery of goods paid for; this is always done mostly on Fridays to prevent any kind of banking system retrieval.
“Based on the above, the Command is sending this to the public as awareness; so, no one will fall victim to the antics of fraudsters who pretend as business clients while passing a very strict warning to all criminal-minded groups or individuals to relocate from the Zone as they will not find it easy operating within the Zonal Command.”
The statement was signed by the Zonal Police Public Relations Officer, SP Hauwa Idris Adamu.
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