In the yonder world, my father would probably struggle to believe what the world he left behind some three decades ago has metamorphosed into.  It is now a world of “do not trust anyone”.

We are being choked with evil pretences which are trapping unsuspected victims.  People are coming out of their bedrooms each day with unscrupulous and unethical ideas that not only dupes.  They can embarrass and sometimes destroy at a time when others are coming out with painstaking discoveries to better the world and create prosperity for all.

A public warning has been issued from Coca-Cola drawing attention to a purported prize notification for a lottery drawn annually with a prize money of five hundred and fifty thousand British pounds (£550,000) or the equivalent of nine hundred and forty three thousand, nine hundred and seven US dollars ($943,907) for each of the 20 winners.

Apparently, a dubious e-mail had been sent to unsuspecting individuals informing them that their e-mail addresses were randomly picked and entered in a draw which had won them the prize monies at stake.  They were therefore requested to contact an address in South Africa with their personal details for the completion of the process to claim their prize monies. 

The obvious scam unfortunately got some people falling for the trap.  They not only sent off their personal details but went further to part with thousands of Ghana Cedis equivalent of the asking processing fees.

Reading the notification reminded me of the story of a lady who told her story on one of the FM stations the other week concerning a dubious trap she fell into when a guy she never knew called her private number and pretended to be her friend who lives in London.  He made her pay some amount of money to his “brother” with the promise that he is coming to Ghana in the next few days and would look her up and pay off the debt.  That was the last she heard of the man. 

In the case of the “friendly “phone call from London, the fraudster waited for the lady to come out with information which he then used to advance a conversation that the lady believed in.   The thing is there is too much personal information we are giving out to total strangers out there.  It is like sleeping with one’s legs out in an open window.  That for me is the downside of this information communication and technology (ICT) age.

But while ICT is proving an avenue for easy exploitation by one school of fraudsters, others are purely exploiting loopholes available to them by being “streetwise”.

I had stopped to order flower pots the other day when the lady asked me to pay at least half of the amount as deposit.  I insisted I needed a receipt if I had to part with money for stuff yet to be collected.  The lady asked if I did not trust her saying, “I am always here, I won’t go anywhere with your money.”  When I still insisted, she turned round and said she sided with me as one could not trust anybody anymore.  She shared with me her recent experience when someone approached her introducing himself and pointing to a house nearby, told her that was where he lived and that he had been locked out and needed money to get some items and will refund later when his wife got in.  When she did not hear from him, she went to the house a day later but was told there was no one by that name. 

The daring fraudsters are ready to test their tricks on the system too.  In the Daily Graphic of last Saturday, 16^th August, a student was reported to have been busted for producing fake road worthy stickers and selling them to the public.  He actually sold one such fake stickers to someone and when he was searched, a number of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) stickers and passport pictures were found on him.

Stories of this nature are one too many these days.  These fraudsters attempt one, get into the wrong side of the law and then next time they devise other “smarter” means to perpetrate another fraud.                                                                 

The fraudsters have invaded every available space and so we need to tread cautiously especially when taking calls from strangers.  Internet fraud also these days come in many shapes and sizes.  We need to open our eyes and ears and watch what information we leave on our social media network sites. 

The purported friendly e-mail messages coming into our inboxes may prove potent and could wipe away one’s entire bank account.  The default password? BEWARE.