lucky winners of LACASERA
I got a fraudulent SMS from an unknown number sometime last week and after a lot of thinking, I decided to share the experience with you and get some reactions. The SMS goes thus; 'Congratulation! You have won #250,000.00 Your no is among the 42 lucky winners of LACASERA (A popular soft drink in Nigeria) DRINK PROMO. Ticket no, GXB30. Call 08131889692. To claim your prize. (Please note I reconstructed the SMS verbatim).
It didn't help that I was in a bad mood when it came in and I couldn't help replying the scammers with some choice words that my mom spent close to 20 years trying to prevent me from learning. My response; ' You muthafuckers must be really dumb to think anyone will fall for you scam… Lacasera promo,my arse!you dumb fucks can't even spell right. (Also reconstructed verbatim).
I know I shouldn't have done it, but I was at the end of my tether. I get an average of 13 fraudulent proposals every year; an average of one per month. The pretty imaginative proposals range from purchase of oil refineries to inheritances left by dead relatives, with astronomical figures being dangled in front of you in the frenzied bid to separate you from your cash. I have had people call me up and address me by my first name, claiming to have met me in the past and offering me deals which promise fantastic returns. Depending on my mood, I play along until I feel I've burnt enough of their airtime and then I hang up and refuse to pick subsequent calls. In the past, it was just foreigners that were being targeted but with increased surveillance by anti-fraud authorities (local and International), the fraudsters switched their focus to the local scene with varying degrees of success.
The sentence structures of the proposals are nearly always filled with grammatical errors. Most 'yahoo boys' (local parlance for scammers) are school dropouts and they invariably expose their lack of education when they try to communicate with people. Another trait of yahoo boys is to offer fantastic returns on a seemingly easy business deal. I had a guy call me up one day, claiming to be a Port-Harcourt based staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He offered me a return of N15,000,000 (approximately 99,000 dollars) if I would agree to bribe his boss with N200,000 (approximately 1,400 dollars) so he would award me a contract to supply NNPC with some office equipment. I told him to stick it up his arse and cut the call!
On the streets of Lagos, it is common to see young lads who have no verifiable source of income driving flashy cars, wearing expensive clothes, and sporting the latest communication and entertainment gadgets. In clubs they buy the most expensive bottles of liquor and hold court in the center of their sycophant friends who more often than not, find 'other' friends when the pipeline goes dry. Really, if I were a cop and I saw a 20-year old kid driving a Honda Accord 2008 model and carrying a blackberry, I would shoot him in the leg and drag him to my station and ask questions later. The '419' (local slang for advance-fee fraud) boys, in their 'pursuit of happiness', go to great lengths to snag a 'maga' (local slang for victim of these schemes) including employing diabolical means. Stories abound of scammers who patronize witch-doctors for 'special powers' to help them fleece their targets of their money.
This group of individuals, who represent less than 0.0001% of Nigeria's population, have given the country a terrible reputation in the community of Nations. Nearly every form of communication that emanates from Nigeria or a Nigerian is scrutinized with a fine tooth comb. Nigerians who travel out of the country are usually separated from boarding or arrival lines and frisked to the point of embarrassment at airports. I seriously am not looking forward to travelling out of the country anytime soon, especially after the Christmas Day bomb scare by that dumb-ass Abdulmutallab fella which has gotten international airport security teams paranoid about Nigerians.
I'm not defending the actions of these people, but how come the world behaves like Nigerians are the scum of the earth? America has one of the highest crime rates in the world, ranging from gang violence to drug wars. Britain is home to crackpots and skinheads who stab people on the streets. The Russian mafia is one of the most feared in the world and they have some really heavy scam artists too. So, why is Nigeria so vilified? It gets my goose whenever I read any negative report about Nigeria on the internet. Sony released an advert for the new PS3 and in the ad, a guy said; 'If you believe everything you hear on the internet, you'll be a Nigerian millionaire.' Come on! After some ranting by the Nigerian Government, the material was withdrawn and a high-powered delegation from Sony visited Nigeria and met with Information Minister, Dora Akunyili to apologize. Why was it allowed to air in the first place? That goof almost made me NOT buy the PS3 console after my xbox 360 packed up (But I'm too much of a game freak to let that get to me! Sony, behave or… …)
Ok… I'm outta breath! I don't know why but I just felt the need to let out some steam. Not a very prudent first piece but I hope you guys will understand and bear with me… See you next week, be safe.
This article has been taken from http://www.modernghana.com/movie/8293/3/a-fraudulent-sms-and-a-disjointed-rant-w.html
September 27, 2011 at 4:25 AM
October 19, 2011 at 7:11 AM
I cannot imagine how desperate and unpredictable these yahoo guys are proving to be,just got a message of such too.Good people be very careful of these scammers o.k
October 23, 2011 at 6:45 AM
got i today. and i don't drink lacasera. decided to play along a little to know where they are heading. d so called rev bello whose nmb i was given to call told me to get an mtn card of 1,500. about 30 mins later i called that i've gotten d card. he then told me to call out the code. i called out 12 digits from my head. it seems he tried to load it in his phone 'cos he then asked 'what sort of number is this' his nmb is 08130304665.
December 30, 2011 at 2:51 AM
i jst get my today saying iwon 300,000 that ishld register with 3 750 mtn card. these are the no 08132860132 he claim he is mr john. ROBINSON OFEM FROM CALABAR
April 21, 2012 at 3:44 PM
Hello! I got a similar text message by 7:44 am today telling me that I have won N300,000 in a so-called Lacasera Drink Drink promo and asking me to call one Pastor Lance on 08068564706 to claim my prize. The number that sent d text message is +2348068564693. Incidentally a "flash" call came in earlier (6:38 am) with a hidden number, and I suspect it came from the same people. I was sleeping when both the call and text message came in. I've been waiting for them to call me, but they haven't. About an hour ago, I "flashed" the number that sent the text message in order to encourage them to call. Perhaps I can help them waste their phone credit and amuse myself.... Now it's 11:42 pm on my phone. They still haven't called. One thing is certain: they've come to the wrong guy. Hahahaha...!
April 21, 2012 at 4:46 PM
By the way, I'm sure that no pastor or other man of God is involved in all these scams. I suspect that the fraudsters only mentioned the so-called Pastor Lance in a bid to fool me into thinking that a pastor is actually involved, so that I would believe their scam. Thanks to God, I'm too smart to be fooled.
May 22, 2012 at 3:13 AM
I received a texts from +2348133914045 that reads 'Celebration!!10TH Years Anniversary. Congratulation, you have won #300,000 in LACASERA DRINK COMPANY. your code is 0103 call Mr. Silvester no. 08162061675
EFCC fetch them out.
August 20, 2012 at 4:19 AM
I just my message now that i won N750,000 so tempting i called and they asked me buy MTN N1500 scratch and call the number for them so that they can contact my bank 419 met with 419 = 838 now tell me who go fall? They are crazy MTN N1500 my foot.
October 9, 2012 at 2:08 AM
Please, everyone, stop over-reacting to mentally unstable businessmen.......oh, and women? ha ha ha ha ha
January 5, 2013 at 1:20 PM
i recieve mine today, sayin. Congratulations! You have won N200,000.your number is among d 50 winners in d lacasera drink promo.Ticket no:0103.Call Mr Tony on 08101094019 for ur prize! This the number that send it +2347089985073. EFCC fetch them.
June 11, 2013 at 1:15 AM
I receievd a text not quite long so I decided to google the number(2348133914045) and this page popped up. I got the message five times from these number 38700, 38702, 38703, 38704, 38705 and it says " Y'ello 234-8133914045 sent you a message via MTN Collect SMS. Reply YES to this message to read it & pay N5 SMS charge on behalf of 234-8133914045". Now why would I want to pay a charge for someone unknown to me, to receive an SMS!. I figured out there was something fishy so I had to google the number and it came up on this thread, now I have to totally ignore the messages as I tried calling the number and call was being forwarded to a number that doesn't exist. The number does not exist!
August 22, 2013 at 5:38 AM
i just got the same message saying CONGRATULATION YOUR MOBILE LINE AMONG DLUCKY WINNER WON #300,000 ONGOING NIGER LACASERA PROMO,TICKET NO 00190.CALL DR MRS FAITH 08104902178 FOR CLAIM .imagine rubbish this people has some nerve
November 25, 2013 at 11:38 PM
I receive such scandalous text too this morning.God will catch dem
January 30, 2014 at 4:57 AM
mine reads:
Gift reply is free
CONGRATULATION!you have won=N=450.000.your no is among the 22 lucky winner of LACASERA drink bonanza.Ticket No 0102.Call this 08167886375 to claim your prize.
fortunately,i am too occupied for this nonsense.
June 6, 2014 at 1:55 AM
Mine reads:
Gift...reply is free
CONGRATULATION YOUR MOBILE LINE AMONG 50 LUCKY WINNER WON #450,000 ONGOING NIGER@53.NET LACASERA DRINK. TICKET NO 00190, CALL PASTOR BEN 09033288666 FOR CLAIM.
June 14, 2014 at 3:42 AM
Gift...reply ifs free
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU WON 300,000 UR NO IS AMONG D 50 LUCKY WINNERS IN ONGOING LACASERA DRINK PROMO, TICKET NO(0409)CALL MR JOHN 08106512050 FOR CLAIM. PLS NIGERIANS LET BE CAREFUL.
August 23, 2014 at 10:35 AM
CONGRATULATION! YOU WON # 300,000 YOUR NO IS AMONG THE 50 LUCKY WINNERS IN LACASERA DRINK? PROMO-CODE MTN4G) CALL MR LEONARD 08163941154 FOR CLAIM. I CALLED HIM TODAY , HE TOLD ME SEND BANKS ACCOUNT DETAILS. PL BE CAREFUL
October 20, 2015 at 5:38 AM
am shedrack ,,,mine goes like this congratulation your no is amony the 22 winners of lacasera on going promo call mr mike to claim ,wish i did he said i should send mtn 1500,,,they re 419 guyz around the city pls ignor