Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday expressed
concern over the rise in use of Instagram, a social media platform to
defraud unsuspecting users.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports
that the platform, which is popularly used to connect friends and family
by sharing personal photos and videos on the internet has gradually
become an avenue for business activities.
Large-scale businesses
have used the site to showcase goods and services available for sale
inspiring start-up entrepreneurs to follow suit with an online market
that does not require an official website or established shop.
However,
the business concept has been observed to have been soiled by
individuals creating fake business accounts to acquire money from users
fradulently.
Some of the residents, who spoke to NAN, claimed to
had fallen victim to some of the fake business accounts available on the
social media website.
Miss Hope Idemudia, a Nigerian youth
service corps member serving in Abuja, said that she had lost a lot of
money to the owner of a fake business account on Instagram.
“Instagram
is known to be a market place, where people market themselves and their
products so it’s not just for making friends and sharing pictures with
social circles.
“There are a number of accounts I have successfully purchased goods from and I got the orders in perfect condition.
“However, the last order I placed was highly unsuccessful, causing me a loss of N24,000 and I was very bitter about it.
“I
came across an Instagram account known as @Empire_ladies_store which
like other accounts looked very legitimate and I decided to order for
clothes and shoes.
“I paid the money as requested and I still haven’t received my goods up til this very moment.
The account owner stopped picking my calls and responding to my messages after that,” she said
Miss
Tosin Oloruntoba, an entrepreneur said she had come across a number of
fake business accounts that she almost fell victim to.
“The
Instagram business pages have become very popular and it seems to be odd
if you’re a business owner and you don’t have a business page on
Instagram.
“Many of these sellers prove their legitimacy by
posting pictures of feedback from customers they have deals with in the
past and having people review their goods.
“I require the same for
my business pages and I came across a business page called
@dressupclothier which had thousands of posts and followers so I
believed the page was legitimate.
“I placed an order for shoes that I was to give as gift to my daughter and I never received them.
“I knew I was scammed when the owner refused to answer my calls, but always read my messages in Whatsapp without replying.
“I
am just saddened by the fact that these scam artists will destroy the
reputation of other businesses that are actually legitimate.”
George
Ogba, an accountant, said “it is sad that these people are committing
such crimes and there really isn’t anyway to directly block their
accounts from the public as the account has to be reported to Instagram
first.”
“As much as we try to trust our fellow Nigerians, there
are bad people who are making that impossible by committing these
grivious crimes so we have to stop acting naïve.
“There is no
reason why you should make payments for a commodity you have not seen or
received, although it has worked with many other legitimate accounts.
“If
you want to purchase something online, ensure you are protecting
yourself by having a middle man of some sort or ensure you pay for the
commodity on delivery,” he said.
Get more stories like this on Twitter & Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment