Last September, Adebayo Sherifdeen, a penultimate student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, received a WhatsApp message from a user who was not on his contract list. The user identified himself as David Mark and claimed to be a staff of SportyBet company, a sports betting and online casino platform.

He said if Adebayo could register a SportyBet platform account, he was ready to help him multiply any amount he deposited on the site once he followed his instructions.

“He asked me if I would not tell anyone about the offer and showed me a clip to portray how he intended to multiply the money through the SportyBet platform with the aid of an app he claimed he had developed.

“As someone who did not know anything about betting before, I disregarded his messages at first. But after incessant messages from him convincing me that he brought an opportunity where I could make money, I gave in”, Adebayo narrated.

After a long conversation, Adebayo became a SportyBet account owner waiting for David Mark to help him multiply his first N1,000 deposit on the platform.

“He asked me to deposit any amount using my card details on my newly created SportyBet account which I did and told me he would process the rest from his end.

“Two days later, I received two messages, one was for One Time Password (OTP) and the other was for changing of password simultaneously. He called me to request for those numbers which I gave him. It was from that spot I was receiving debit alerts.

“That was how I lost N11,300 I wanted to use for foodstuff to prepare for my exam during that period,” Adebayo lamented.

He continued: “It was at that moment I realised I had fallen into the trap of a scammer. I tried to login my SportyBet account, I realised he had the  access and I could not retrieve it that day because he had exhausted the six chances given to request a new password.

“It was when I accessed my account a day later that I realised he [the scammer] withdrew all my money through the sportybet platform and transferred it to a mobile wallet that I could not trace.

“I did not complain to anyone because I believed I got scammed due to my negligence. Though I have learned my lesson”, Adebayo added.

Ibrahim Yaqoob is another victim of online scam through the SportyBet platform. He narrated how a stranger persuaded him on WhatsApp to deposit any amount to get multiple payments.

According to Ibrahim, the fraudster sent him a link and asked him to supply his personal data through it so that he could help me benefit from what he termed as ‘SportyBet Bonoucer’.

“My debit card details were obtained through that site and he got access to my SportyBet account to steal N15,000 in my account.

“It was so difficult to trace him because he did the scam through the SportyBet platform and transferred the money to a mobile wallet,” Ibrahim explained, sounding helpless.

Checks on the website sent to Ibrahim revealed that the website had been blocked because it was detected to be a malicious form.