Michael AndeyinA scammer impersonating Ultimate SamPhil Global Ventures Limited, a phone store in Edo State, has defrauded Timothy Chekwube, an Enugu-based farmer, of N40,000.
EQ found that this scammer has been targeting X users who want to buy new phones or swap used ones for about two years.
Checks by EQ reveal that, while the actual phone store bears Ultimate SamPhil Global Ventures Limited on Google, Ultimate SamPhil Global Ventures Nigeria Limited on Facebook and Ultimate Samphil on X, this scammer operates as Ultimate Samphill Global on X. SamPhil is spelt with an ‘L’ while the scammer spells a similar word with ‘LL’.
Chekwube told EQ that the impersonator took his N40,000 on Friday, ahead of a phone swap deal, and blocked him a few days later.
Chekwube said he came across the page last Thursday when he searched for Redmi Note 12 on X and the handle, @ultimate_samphi, popped up.
“I checked and saw that he dealt in all kinds of Redmi and Samsung devices. I started scrolling through his page and saw the device I wanted to swap with mine because he claimed to also accept swap deals. I sent him a DM which he replied to in a few hours. We started talking,” Chekwube said on Wednesday.
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The plan was for Chekwube to pay N40,000 alongside his four-month-old Redmi 13c 4/128 in exchange for a Redmi Note 12 6/128, which the individual behind the X page would waybill to Enugu.
A screen recording of chats made available to EQ shows that the ‘vendor’ provided Chekwube with an OPay account name: Etido Bassey Edet. The account number was 6103627436. He claimed that the account details belonged to his wife and hinted that he did not send his own account details because of network issues.
As part of the phone swapping deal, the ‘vendor’ was initially meant to send the phone to Enugu by the end of September. According to Chekwube, this was to give him ample time to transfer all the files from his current device somewhere else.
However, the farmer suddenly decided to check online to see if he could get some information about the store, which he admitted he should have done first before paying. That was when he came across the Google-listed business page: Ultimate SamPhil Global Ventures Limited.
Screenshot shared by Chekwube
This was how Chekwube narrated the events: “I decided to tap the call button and it led me to +234 803 801 8449. I spoke with the person and he told me that it was actually a scammer who had been impersonating them and that they have no Twitter handle whatsoever. Shocked, I sent him a message with the number on the X page on WhatsApp, and he responded, stating that it was a scam.
“I then reached out to “Ultimate Samphill Global” on X about our deal because I told him that I would like to get it latest on the 29th of this month (September). He said what should we do since I previously said I needed to back up some files. I told him that I managed to back up as many as I could after two days of speaking with him. Then, I asked him to make arrangements since he claimed that he does way-bill and also accepted swap deals across Nigeria.
“He promised to give me feedback by Tuesday morning which he failed to do. I sent him a message at noon and he started giving me flimsy excuses. He said he’s yet to find any trusted driver who would inspect my phone before giving me the one I am swapping to. Then I asked him to refund my money and he said I should wait. he said he would refund me by Wednesday morning, but he didn’t.”
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After realising he had been duped by a fake vendor, Chekwube sent several messages between Tuesday and Wednesday demanding a refund. The scammer blocked him instead of returning his money.
“In all of this, I blame myself because it has never happened to me before. I thought he was the owner of the shop or someone working there. I never knew it was actually a broad daylght scam. When I discovered that this was actually a scam, I started demanding that he should refund me,” he said.
Also, instead of responding to EQ’s messages on Wednesday afternoon, the fake vendor blocked the reporter’s handle on X. There was also no response to the message EQ sent to the WhatsApp number on his page.
Screenshot of the X page taken by EQ’s reporter on Wednesday before a message was sent to the handle.
Screenshot of the page taken after the vendor had blocked the reporter.
The fake vendor’s WhatsApp line.
Checks by EQ show that this fake vendor has been scamming x users for at least two years. The real phone store with the name Ultimate Smaphil Global Ventures Nigeria Limited posted a disclaimer on its Facebook page on October 27, 2022.
“Dear customer, please be aware of the fake account with the name, @Ulti Mate Samphill global venture with the number, 0704 714 3584. He’s a scammer defrauding people off their hard earned currency. DO NOT MAKE ANY BUSINESS CONVERSATION WITH HIM, please report any attempt to us on 0803 801 8449 or visit our head office for confirmation.”
The disclaimer.
Comments showing he had scammed more people.
In 2023, the phone company posted a scam alert on X to warn social media users against the fake account.
EQ is aware that Chekwube has reported the transfer to OPay’s fraud team, considering that the N40,000 was sent to an OPay account supposedly owned by the scammer’s wife.
On Thursday, EQ reached out to Adeyemi Adekunle, OPay’s spokesperson, regarding the account that received the money. He wrote: “Kindly be informed that the team in charge will be duly engaged and the issue will be resolved accordingly. Thanks for your patience.”
Ultimate SamPhil Global Ventures Limited also told EQ that it had reported to the police the case of this unknown fraudster taking advantage of its image on X.
Chekwube hopes that, by speaking out, he can prevent others from suffering a similar fate at the hands of the fake vendor.
The post Fraudster Targeting X Users Since 2022 Impersonates Ultimate SamPhil, Scams Farmer of N40,000 appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.
