The slippers trick

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Well this is an amazing topic that everyone would surely have something to write about. Living in a country like mine where scamming is basically the call of the day, everyone must have had a taste of it either ways.

Anyways unlike the usual scamming where someone will call you on your mobile, claiming to be the customer service of your bank or something, only for you to later realize when the deal has already been done that you have just been scammed of your money.

Initially you might not really know that you're about to be scammed because the person would speak so much like a customer service care with his/ her amazing accent and confidence. The person will try so had to convince you telling you so many things like they are trying to verify your account, blah blah blah and then they hit the jack pot when they realize that you had just gone to the bank the previous day to lay a complaints and that instead of you continuously coming to the bank and in the end you are not attended to, and also to save you from the stress they decided to do it online.

But unlike this usual routine, the first time I got scammed was when I visited a new environment. I have never heard or encounter such a thing before in my entire life, the whole thing felt like a dream to me, but only to later realize that it was real and that I have smoothly been scammed.

I had travelled to different state in the Eastern part of my country Nigeria, to stay with a close family member. Then I got a job as a receptionist in a lab, on my second week of resumption I was given some amount of money to go get some lab reagents.

On my way to the place, just close to the plaza there were some guys selling nice slippers and sandals and they were shouting, 'buy your slippers for #500. Luckily for me or so I thought, I had an extra #1000 just in case the price of things goes up in the market.

So I approached one of the sellers and picked a very beautiful slippers, within me I felt it was too cheap for that price but then as a Nigerian we like cheap and free things lol.. after paying for the slippers, just in a flash another seller came and insisted that I should pin the slippers so it would last longer, it was a good idea so I gave him the slippers.

I asked how much for it, he said it was only #200 to pin it and I agreed, few minutes later he came back with the slippers he had pinned the four sides of each slippers then I stretched out to give him the #200 he had told me earlier, only to hear him telling the lady beside to give him a calculator then I started wondering what he was going to calculate.

I was confused when he told me I'm to pay him #1600 that each pin is two hundred Naira and that he pinned the four sides of each slippers, making it eight pins.

Without even giving it a second thought I gave him the money, it was after some minutes later when I had gotten to the plaza to buy the things I was asked to go buy, that was when I got myself and realized that I have smoothly been scammed.

I quickly went back to the place but the amazing thing was that I saw new sellers there, then I started describing the first people that sold to me but they denied knowing them, claiming that the shop belongs to them ( the present sellers there). I was so confused at that moment that I didn't know if was to cry or just walk away.

That was the first I bought a slippers for #500 and pinned it for #1600, who does that?