I was sitting down outside my house on a Saturday evening watching the gentle sunset, and wishing I had a girlfriend to share the colorful experience with. But it had become clear to me that whenever I had little money, girls seemed to run away from me naturally.
I always thought about it in my mind, "Why are young girls so attracted to guys who have lots of money, regardless of how they made the money?" My best friend Adams, had his heart torn from his chest, when his girlfriend left him for an internet fraudster. She knew the guy was an online thief, yet she fell for him. And it puzzled me.
Sometimes, I'd want to blame the young girls, but then I came to a deeper understanding that - younger girls were programmed this way by nature and there's nothing I can do about it. Younger girls will always be attracted to the most capable looking young man - who they felt have the capacity to take good care of them and their children to come. And indeed, having lots of money in this era and time is - pure capacity. So they don't really care how he made it, so long as he had it.
So I tried to enjoy the sunset sitting alone, drinking tap water - it wasn't going down gentle; how I wish I had a bottle of whiskey. Then I got a message on my phone. I looked at it, and it was a WhatsApp message from a beautiful girl. Her eyes looked like the sunset I was experiencing.
Her face was so flawless, that I said, "Wow!" Aloud, without my brain capturing how the word slipped out of my mouth. The message said, "Hi, my name is Natalia. I work in the Human Resource Department of Amazon, and you were recommended to us by YouTube. My company Amazon, will like to employ you as a part time worker, and pay you between 2,000 - 80,000 Naira per day, for few minutes of your time each day."
I looked up at the sunset and said, "Finally, the heaven's have answered my prayers." Then I replied, "That's good. What is the work about?" And she sent me two YouTube videos, and said, "The job is simple - like the videos, and send me a screenshot as prove that you've liked them." I was happy with the simple task. But then it crossed my mind, "How did Natalia get my WhatsApp number?"
I asked Natalia, and she went on again about - how she worked with Amazon, Nike and many big brands; and I was recommended. I didn't want to push too much on that, because I was broke and I needed money and an employment any way. So I quickly liked the two videos and sent her screenshots of it. Natalia congratulated me, and sent me a link to open an account with an online store, through which I'd get my payments.
I immediately opened the account, and behold, I saw 600 Naira in it. And Natalia helped me withdraw it. When the money arrived at my bank, I was excited and speechless at the same time. She asked me if I wanted to continue with more tasks, and that I'll be receiving instant payments to my bank after I completely the tasks. I was happy to continue with more tasks.
She sent me three YouTube videos to like. Quickly again, I liked them, and sent her screenshots. Then Natalia said, "This time around, before you can withdraw your commissions, you'll have to make a deposit of 1000 Naira. But you'll get it back with additional 800 Naira commission - which you can withdraw instantly."
At that point, I felt like something wasn't right. But since I received 600 Naira initially, I felt that Natalia couldn't possibly be trying to trick me - she looked too innocent for that. The amount in my bank was initially 1900 Naira, but with the 600 Naira I received - it totalled 2,500 Naira. I thought to myself, "Come on, take a chance!" Then I made the deposit of 1000 Naira.
Natalia helped me withdraw the 1000 Naira, with my commissions of 800 Naira. I was again overjoyed. Natalia asked me if I wanted to continue with new tasks. I replied, "Yes, of course!" Natalia sent me another set of three YouTube videos for me to like. In a flash, I liked all of them.
Natalia then said to me, "This time around, you'll have to deposit 5,000 Naira; in order to withdraw your commissions." When I read the message, I knew that something had to be wrong. Then I replied, "I don't have 5,000 Naira to deposit." She replied, "Okay, whenever you do - come back and complete the task."
I thought deeply about this, and the evening was already dark. I knew I could ask my friend Adams to borrow me the money to continue the task. But deep down in my soul, I knew that something was not right, "Natalia was hiding behind a mask." I whispered to myself. I continued, "It's not a great opportunity, if I have to go around, begging friends for money to continue tasks."
And I concluded that I was okay with my gains so far, and I won't continue. I decided to stroll out to Adams store to have some evening chat, when I saw people gathered in front of Adams store. On the ground was Mr. Francis crying, and shouting, "I've lost my hard earned one million Naira. I'm doomed." His hands were on his head, as he cried.
When he explained what happened, behold - it was the exact same Natalia who messaged him on WhatsApp, and he continued to deposit more; and couldn't stop himself. Tasks after tasks, he used up all the money in his account, and finally when he put in 1 million Naira, Natalia blocked him on WhatsApp.
I looked up at the moon, and thanked my stars that I exercised some discipline and logic. If I didn't control myself, I would have borrowed money from Adams, and even more people afterwards. And would most likely have ended up on the ground crying like Mr. Francis.