At the early stage of advanced fee fraud in the country, the guys involved, known as 419ers, fraudsters, or guymen, were mature, jobless, and brutal. They were the guys who chose duping people instead of operating as dare devil armed robbers. Their major targets were wealthy foreigners who fell ‘mugu’ to their scam. A good number of the victims were considered ‘long throat’ (greedy) individuals who thought the culprits were money doublers.
The 419ers communicated to their targets through letters before switching to the use of GSM notoriously known as 090, which sounded like ‘not 9 not’.
Things have long changed. And, technology is largely to be blamed. Aside from technology, the foreign mugus learned their lessons. Awareness about the criminal activities of the fraudsters grew. So, the ‘mugus’ scarcely fell for the tricks.
Then enter the Gen Zs. One similarity they have with their predecessors is joblessness. After roaming the streets as chronic occupants of the labour market, instead of picking up guns and robbing people as many did in time past, they pick up their phones and laptops.
Many underrate these tech-savvy children, but believe it, they are brutal also. It is no longer just about scamming people. We’ve long known that voodooism has been added. Hence, they are called Yahoo, Yahoo plus. Aside from joblessness as a major factor, these Gen Zs are into Yahoo business to numb themselves. They feel abandoned and helpless with the situation of Nigeria. This is why many of them scam their way out of the country; thereby fueling the japa syndrome.
This generation of Yahoo plus guys make no exception; their family members, friends, neighbours, benefactors, just anyone can be scammed. That’s what they think is best instead of armed robbery, for fear of jungle justice. There is no style or scope they can’t employ to defraud victims.
So sad that due to poverty and quest for quick money, many parents turn a blind eye to the criminal activities of these children. Many others, including fake religious leaders, support and even pray for them to succeed as scammers. That is total degeneration.
POS operators have seen hell in the hands of these scammers. If it is not through fake alerts, it is through outsmarting and duping them. After punching 10,000 naira on the machine as withdrawal for a female customer, instead of putting her pin, she first of all deleted one ‘0’. The operator gave her 10,000 naira only to receive an alert of 1,000 naira. That’s how the POS operator lost 9,000 naira within a minute. By the time the alert came in, the thief was gone. You think it’s only boys that are into Yahoo Yahoo? Think again! Many of our young girls are lovers of the Yahoo boys. While in the relationship for big phones and costly wigs, they also learn to scam people to survive. But then, some of them end up as objects for money rituals.
The other day, a mother caused a scene in a business environment when she took her 14-year-old pregnant daughter to meet the boy who got her pregnant. It happened that the girl ran away from home for months to live with her Yahoo boyfriend. The boy, however, chased her out after she almost died in his house while trying to abort the baby. The poor illiterate woman (apologies) ended up shaming her daughter in public rather than solving the problem. What was a 14-year-old child looking for, for goodness sake?
Since Nigeria leaders have failed to organize this country so that the environment will be conducive for our youth to not only survive but thrive, they must know that Yahoo Yahoo business is destroying our future.
Every money these boys make is almost wasted on girls, booze, hair plaiting and maintenance, and looking dope like yankees; nothing meaningful. However, the police will not allow them to enjoy the stolen money. It’s like by their appearance yee shall know them – once you are a boy with ear and nose rings, plaited hair, no belt and bogus attire, the police come unto you. Most often, we see them being pushed into police vehicles after their phones and bodies were searched. They are released after they settle. How do we move forward like this?
Now, they are not only taking over our girls but communities. Once they blow, they rent rooms in virgin areas in the cities. The place becomes their ‘hideouts’. Greedy landlords now use the opportunity to jack up house rents, making rents very exorbitant for the common man. And, of course, the young girls flock around them like vultures. They actually serve as live-in lovers. They are not ashamed of street fights. So disrespectful. So spoiled. We are losing these girls, honestly. With them in any community, there’s always a party. Whatever they’re celebrating is unknown to other community members. But you can’t be unaffected by the heavy sounds from the speakers. It gets worse if you despise the lyrics of the music. It’s possible for you to absent-mindedly spend more than two minutes listening to ‘Omblee, Omblee, Omblee’. Whatever that means. After partying, the area is left littered with disposable cups, pure water satchets, and bottle water containers. Indeed, these boys are becoming a nuisance to society.
It will shock you to know that boys in secondary schools are now also into Yahoo business. It’s no longer for jobless people. At a CBT Centre recently, after filling out his JAMB form, a boy ran back to the coordinator and begged him to allow him to make changes in his form. Guess what? The boy said he mistakenly put his Yahoo Yahoo email instead of the one he uses for school purposes. This is the level of moral decadence amongst the youth.
Our leaders who have done little or nothing to ensure a better today and tomorrow for these super smart Gen Zs are still warming up to continue in office. Nigerians are lamenting that the elders have failed. Imagine the kind of elders these Yahoo plus Gen Zs will become in the future. Hmnnn!
