I am in my early 20s and wanted to purchase a Samsung mobile phone through a well-known online platform. I thought that I had a good deal when I saw the model that I liked offered at a very low price. I proceeded to purchase using the platform. As usual, the platform will place the order. By right, the vendor was supposed to deliver the mobile phone before the vendor is being paid by the online platform (as the payment made would be held first by the platform). In this case, a day after the order, this vendor (scammer) contacted me and told me to top up a little if I wanted the mobile phone fast as the model was out of stock. I thought that the ‘top up’ was still lower than the usual retail price. I agreed and sent the ‘top up’ sum to a different account number (which was discovered to belong to another person who is not connected to the scammer). After the top up, the scammer contacted me and this time told me that the government’s tax for the mobile was for a certain sum and that I needed to top up the amount again. I thought that the sum was still within my budget and continued to pay. After payment, a few days later, again, the scammer contacted me again to ask to top up another sum for custom clearance. This was when I thought something was wrong and told the guy that I am not interested with the phone anymore and asked for a refund. The scammer agreed and asked for my banking details and after a few days I received my money back.
However, a few months later, the police arrested and charged me. It was only then I discovered that after I had given my banking details, the scammer had used my account as a mule account to perform many ‘transactions’ from different parties. I was fortunate enough as the prosecution did not press criminal charge for the other ‘transactions’ done on my bank account.