The "'180' MTN Nigeria Recharge and win Promo" scam

If you have heard about the recent rash of '419' exploits by a group of well-organized people claiming to work for MTN Nigeria and offering to help you cash your digital check of 1+ MILLION naira, or you have become a statistic in the record of people who are actual victims, this post is for you.

I'll briefly try to explain why such messages are scams, and how to make sure you never get swindled of thousands of naira worth of recharge cards again ;-)

Some people like to feel things, to try out stuff and know what it really is like to experience a certain thing. I am that kind of curious soul. Luckily for all you potential victims who may be fortunate to read this blog, and perhaps other blogs that directly address the issue, you don't need to try it to believe that the "MTN Nigeria Recharge and win Promo, March 2012 Edition" is a well crafted scam.

Two days ago I got a text message from what appeared to be the MTN Customer Care Line, 180, telling me that I won "1 Million Naira in the MTN Recharge and win Mega Bonanza", and that I should call 201 or a certain MTN number for details. Being eternally curious, I dialled 201 first. An automated voice welcomed me to the 'MTN Financial Service'. Due to my current dislike for robots trying to prove to me that they can solve my problem intellectually, I dropped the call. I proceeded to call the MTN number embedded in the SMS I got. A man answered me and informed me that I had to buy three N1,500 recharge cards and load them in this format: *555*batch_number_embedded_in_SMS*the_three_recharge_PINs#; being the persistent (or perhaps foolish, haha) type, I obliged "Mr. Bayo Adams", the human voice that has turned out to be the Uber Fraudster. 

Mr. Adams called me back and advised me to choose Direct Deposit as the mode of collecting my bounty, and unknown to me I was trying to harvest the wind. I agreed to do so, sending my account details to him within a few minutes. Almost instantly, I received an SMS from "ZENITHBANK" asking me to call yet another number for confirmation of the transfer of N1,000,000 from "their" bank to my GTBank Account. When I called this second number a voice picked up and informed me that I had to pay N15,000 for processing the "digital cheque" which was made out for N1,000,000. 

It was at this point that my knowledge of human psychology, technology and fraud all condensed into one thought: Why the first payment of N1,500 if they knew I still had to pay another N15,000? Why not just deduct their charges from "my money" and deposit the balance into my account? That was all I needed to start running through what I have been doing habitually for years to ensure I don't get scammed. For the benefit of others, please use this checklist before responding to any "Bonanza claims" SMS:

1. Know for a fact that MTN (or any other Mobile Carrier for that matter) NEVER asks anyone for advance payment before paying claims for any of their promos. If you call any number and some cool, calm collected voice tells you that payment in any form is necessary to claim your prize, you are about to be thoroughly scammed.

2. The Miracle of the Message Center: Make it a habit to check the details of the SMS you received. If it really was sent from MTN servers, the Message Center will be in this format: +234803****410. The last three digits may change, but there will always be about four zeros in the Message Center number. If you check the SMS and it shows that the Message Center number does not begin with "+234", which is the country code for Nigeria, you are looking at a message generated by a Third Party, and not MTN Nigeria. These privately registered third party numbers often begin with codes like +352, which is the country code for Luxemburg, hehehe. Why would MTN Nigeria send you a text message from Luxemburg informing you that you won something and asking you to pay a certain fee to get what you won?

3. Tax deductions, service charges and processing fees for monetary lottery, promo, or bonanza claims are always deducted before the claimant gets his/her money. This is what obtains all over the world. Nigeria is no exception.

4. The MTN Customer Service number "180" NEVER sends text messages to customers. The line is Toll Free, meaning you get to call them for free. Why should they send you text when they usually call or take call s? Whenever you actually get a text message from MTN the message either shows "MTN N" or "MTN", not "180". 

Wise up friends, and learn from my 'mistake'. Today my account is N4,500 short :-(.

Wake up Nigeria, Slam the Scam!