In May 2024, Ibrahim Abdulazeez, an Osun-based software engineer, paid N2.2 million to someone who posed as a Dufil Prima Foods supply agent.
Dufil Prima Food Ltd. is the manufacturer of Indomie, a popular Nigerian noodle brand.
Abdulazeez told FIJ that the investment was a startup capital for his wife’s business, and he had found the page on Facebook while searching online. “It looked as real as the Dulfil Prima Facebook account, and so I believed it was real,” Abdulazeez told FIJ.
He also said that he sent a message to one of the contacts found on the page. The contact confirmed they work with Dufil Prima Foods as a supplier, and he proceeded to make his order, which cost N2,296,600.
He said he went ahead to place his orders, which included 203 cartons of chicken flavour (Indomitable), 69 cartons of the onion flavour (Indomitable), 50 cartons of chicken flavour (standard pack) and 100 cartons of oriental fried noodles (standard pack).
Abdulazeez said that when he received the account number, it was registered with a microfinance bank.
When he sent the account number to me and I saw that it was a microfinance bank, I was skeptical, but because the account name read ‘Dulfil Prima’ I felt maybe it was a subsidiary account and that was why I sent the money,” he explained.
The software engineer said that as soon as he paid, the agent started to make excuses about the truck being used for delivery. “The agent started to give excuses that the truck that would load the items was being repaired,” he told FIJ.
“He told me the goods would be delivered 72 hours after payment. This was on May 25, but he didn’t deliver the goods.”
Ibrahim said he waited till May 28 to see whether the goods would arrive or not.
“The agent said he would share the contact details of the driver to send the goods down but he never did. This pushed me to request a refund, as I was starting to see signs that I had been scammed,” Abdulazeez said.
The Osun resident said he swung into action and made immediate efforts to recover his money but it has been frustrating.
“Despite my immediate efforts to report the incident to my bank and relevant authorities, I have encountered numerous bureaucratic hurdles. The Magistrate keeps adjourning the case for no substantial reason,” he told FIJ.
Abdulazeez said when he also reported the case to the police and they demanded between N600,000 and N800,000 to facilitate the arrest of the scammer. He said this has frustrated the progress of the case.
“Little has been done by the police to help me recover my money,” added.
Meanwhile, the Osun resident said he has also reported the case to Zenith Bank, the bank he used to transfer the money.
“They created a ticket and told me they were investigating. Since then, nothing. Although their lawyer attended a Court seating,” he said.
FIJ called the phone number of the agent Abdulazeez paid N2.2 million to, it was not available. A WhatsApp message sent to the phone number on Monday has also not been responded to at press time.
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