A US-based Ukrainian startup manager has outwitted a
Nigerian scammer who was set on extorting money from him. Artyom Geraschenkov
became acquainted with the fraudster, who was posing as a white female
‘Angelina Crane,’ via one of Russian social media sites. ‘Angelina’ told Artyom
she was an American currently residing in Nigeria and asked if he could help
her financially by transferring 50 or 60 US dollars a week.
Mr Geraschenkov,
who immediately understood the fraudulent motive behind his new ‘lady’ friend’s
request, decided to play along and expose the scammer.
According to Naij, he replied by saying ‘Angelina’ was worth
more than just $60 and suggested sending $500-600 instead.
‘Angelina’ happily
agreed and sent her personal details necessary for making the monetary transfer
– including the documents with 'her' real name and photograph of the scammer, Olukade
Kehinde Martins. However, this was when Mr Geraschenkov told ‘Angelina’ he was
a dealer with Apple and was, coincidentally, to ship 200 iPhones to Lagos, all
of which but one has been paid for by a local Apple store.
The Ukrainian promised ‘Angelina’ she could take two iPhone
devices if she compensated the cost of one of them, explaining that it would be
impossible to ship the whole batch of phones to Nigeria leaving one unpaid for.
Eventually, Mr Geraschenkov managed to persuade Angelina-Olukade to send him
$600.
Once he received the money, he told the scammer he, too, was a Nigerian
residing in Lagos. In an interview with Meduza, Mr Geraschenkov said he
returned the money to the Nigerian scammer, half-jokingly admitting that a
clean “karma” was more important.
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