15th August, 2013
Have you ever received offer for auctions of vehicles supposedly from the Nigeria Customs Service or the Comptroller General of Customs, Dikko Abdullahi? If yes, you might be a potential victim in the hand of fraudsters as the Nigeria Customs Service has alerted the public on the antics of fraudsters who use the organisation to swindle unsuspecting buyers.
The hoodlums who often operate via facebook have opened several facebook accounts and websites in the name of the NCS to give supposed buyers the impression that they are Customs officers. They often display pictures of fleets of vehicles at cut-rate prices to attract buyers.
According to a statement released by the Nigerian Customs, several other accounts were also discovered to have been operated in the name of the Comptroller General of Customs, Dikko Abdullahi to fleece innocent victims.
“They use many ploys, but the most popular is using fake Facebook accounts opened in the name of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dikko Abdullahi. You are therefore deceived to believe that you are chatting with the Comptroller General of Customs who might even refer you to an officer in Seme Border or any department of the Service. Beware, the discussions that will eventually lead to a request that you pay some money into some private account is pure scam. Many have been scammed. They are fraudulent. Don’t patronise them,’’ Customs said in the statement.
Speaking with P.M.NEWSBusinessWeek, Chris Osunkwo, Public Relations Officer, NCS, TinCan Island Port, said the Nigerian Customs does not conduct auction sales of vehicles or any goods via Facebook or any other online platform and warned Nigerians to beware of scammers.
Enlightening the public, Osunkwo explains that the Nigerian Customs usually floats two types of auction- Seizure Auction and the overtime type. While the former is done for items/vehicles seized by NCS, the latter is overseen by a designated committee. He explains further that there is a process for every auction exercise and that no individual can single-handedly allocate items/vehicles to a potential buyer.
‘’The auction exercise conducted by the Nigerian Customs is a continuous exercise whereby an interested buyer applies and if successful, obtains a letter of allocation from the Customs High Command , Abuja. Those who auction items or vehicles through facebook are scammers,’’ he confirms.
—Femi Ayodele