My first experience with scammers happened some years back. I had never believed in working or earning online as I'd never researched nor have I shown any interest in it. All I do to earn is offline jobs. Back then, I had no knowledge of Web3, so anyone saying they are working online, I used to look at them in a funny way. ![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmbuLaxscuk1DoQNRevbcVo2E8GdVttJNKVsAxDpyh4Mkk/1745534501022.jpg) Whenever I buy internet data on my phone, I use it to download movies, watch videos on Facebook, Twitter (Now X) and so on. “Oohhh, this data is almost exhausted, It's supposed to last for one month o,it's only being 16 days”, I lamented to my friend, Tayo, one afternoon,when she came to visit me. “How will it last when you will be wasting it by watching videos almost everyday”, she said, making fun of me. “Instead of wasting your data like this, why not use it to earn money online?” “Hmmmm, please oo, I heard most online jobs are scams, and I don't want to partake in fraud”, I told her, holding up my hands in surrender. “What do you know?”she asked, giving me the side-eye. “Let me sha help your life”, she said while introducing me to a way to earn money. It's a WhatsApp group created by a guy whose aim is to help people by paying them when they answer questions. She said a friend of hers introduced her to it about two days before and she can beat her chest that it's real. She gave me her phone and I went through what was happening in the group. I saw that the admin only posts academic stuff. Questions on maths, English and Current Affairs are being asked and the first person to drop the answer wins. The admin will then send a screenshot of the winner whose answer came after the questions are being asked. After some time, he will send a screenshot of 20k sent to the winner and that person will also acknowledge that they received the money, thanking and raining prayers on the admin. The questions were being dropped twice daily, one in the morning and one around evening, which means two people will win 20k everyday. The way the admin appeared strict in the group, you would even comport yourself without being told as you wouldn't want to be blocked from the group. There were hundreds of people in the group. The admin will drop messages telling people to stop coming to his DM to ask for financial help. He told them he is already helping by creating a way that people can earn by answering simple questions. He assured them that though the fastest person to drop answers wins, a lot of people will end up winning. “Where is he seeing all this money that he will be awarding 20k to the winners?”, I asked Tayo. “I told you people are really making it big by working online, you think it's this 15k salary you are earning that they are also earning, they earn a lot, so giving out 20k two times in a day is no big deal to them”, Tayo, explained allaying my fears. I told her to also add me to the group and she gave me a number and told me to message the person on WhatsApp, telling him I came through her and he would add me to the group, I did that and in no time, I was also amongst the group members. The next day, he sent a question and while still typing my answer, a lot of people already sent theirs. That raised the competitive spirit in me and I vowed I would try harder because the questions were actually very simple and easy to attempt. The questions and answer sessions went on for about a week and One Friday I saw the admin sent an announcement. From what was sent, he claimed some people were not happy as they were yet to win anything so he decided to do something special for everyone. “Fastest Fingers, Pay 2k to get 6k, Pay 5k to get 15k, Pay 10k to get 30k and so on”. He dropped his account details and gave everyone 10 minutes. ![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmYhWN7J3QDvkkL3SDFhvqYnnH9vr69miey22UBmFU2HBj/1745534581952.jpg) When I saw the announcement in the group, I immediately smelled a rat but I decided to wait a bit to see how it would play out. People were already sending screenshots as proof of their payment. Some sent 5k, 10k, 20k, 50k and so on. “Tayo, how far? Have you sent yours?, I immediately asked when I saw her call. “Yes na, no time to waste time”, she said and I could hear the excitement in her voice. “Hurry and do yours too, I should be receiving my 15k soon”, she said before we hung up. I was skeptical but I was really tempted because I’d never experienced it before. “What if it's real and I end up missing out? Should I try with 2k or 5k?”, I asked no one in particular as I pondered on what to do. I saw people already dropping screenshots of their transactions. I checked the time and there was about 5 minutes left before the time given would elapse. I opened my bank app, I had like 7k at the time. I typed in the account number provided and all the information was correct. I typed in the amount I was to send, 5k, hmmm, my heart was palpitating and my hands were shaking so I stopped. I knew something was not right and my instincts were telling me to abort the mission. I closed my app and sent a message to Tayo, “I couldn't do it o”. She called immediately, “Ha, you have missed it because the time has elapsed, don't worry, you will get another opportunity”, she said assuring me. I took my phone and went back to the group and about two people dropped their screenshots claiming they have received their own “tripled cash”, others were commenting that they haven't seen theirs and the admin of the group sent another general message that the network is unstable and everyone will get their “tripled money”, as he got a lot of people who paid and he is sorting it one after the other. My fears were finally confirmed when the admin restricted everyone except himself from sending messages to the group as some people were already agitating that they are yet to get their money. Before the end of that day, everyone was removed from the group. Tayo came to my house the next day and was sobbing uncontrollably. The person who introduced her in the first place also fell for it. She told me the person put in a lot of money. All efforts to reach out to the admin’s number was abortive. ![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmaScGxkYtz2UE3d96cig55ogYhtBstSBmPrEJVf1qmDFq/1745534547194.jpg) That was my first and almost direct contact with scammers and I was glad I didn't fall for it. Tayo wasn't so lucky but that experience also taught her a lesson not to fall for schemes like that again. Even when I was first introduced to Hive I was skeptical. “You mean I will just write something and they will pay me?”, I was very doubtful, but when I learned more about it and found out it was genuine, my doubts were totally cleared, especially when I found out I won't have to pay any money before joining. Now I have learned that working and earning online is very real but one needs to trust the process and take it one step at a time. People that are likely to fall for scams are those looking to be millionaires overnight. _{_{[Image 1](https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-using-macbook-pro-on-white-table-5077044/)}} _{_{[Image 2](https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-lying-on-bed-and-holding-an-iphone-7351144/)}} _{_{[Image 3](https://www.pexels.com/photo/sad-women-in-a-living-room-6134938/)}}

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