Learn from your past experiences — Cyber safety advocate tells victims of scam

An advocate of cyber safety and publisher of internet safety magazine, Rotimi Onadipe, on Saturday, advised victims of scams to look back at how they were defrauded by scammers not to invest their hard-earned money in fraudulent businesses.

According to him, this would help them to be more vigilant and prevent future occurrences of such bad experiences.

Onadipe, a devoted advocate of cyber security, gave the advice on Saturday at his organisation's weekly lecture, held at Internet Safety Magazine office, Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital.

He said: "Today, I have a very important message for anyone that has ever been defrauded in any way by a scammer, either physically or through online platform.

"Be informed that fraudsters are very intelligent and they keep records of every individual they scam, including the tricks they used to convince their victims.

"So, to avoid falling victim repeatedly, you need to look back at how it started, the events that transpired before, during and after the fraud happened."

"Some questions are very important:
"How did you fall victim in the first place?
"What made you to believe the story?
"Did the story sound too good to be true?
"How did you send the money e.g. was it through direct bank transfer, money transfer agents or through a third party?

"Did you borrow the money you gave to the scammers?

"Did you sell any of your properties before, during or after the fraud happened?

"Did you do any investigation about the business proposal, the individual or organisation involved?

"Did you share your experience with friends, neighbours or some family members?

"Did you contact experts for effective counseling before you invested your hard-earned money?

"How did you feel when you discovered it was a scam and how do you feel now when you remember what you went through?

"To avoid falling victim again and again, it is very important to look back and ask those important questions," Onadipe added.