Welcome to Ifo Efeturi's Blog

Sometime in 2016, I was waiting in my car outside a building near a bank in Benin City. It was not yet time for the bank to open for business. Then I noticed a poster on the wall. It was about a company in Benin City that needed to recruit staff for various positions in a multinational company.  Now this wasn't the regular black and white photocopied A4 poster that many people use to advertise vacancies. This was much bigger like an A2 poster and it was coloured...I think purple or brown. Those interested were to send an SMS to a certain number. I decided to give it a try and right there in my car, I sent an SMS to the number. Some days later I received an SMS from this number inviting me for a job test the next day by 9am.   You know, when you are looking for a job, such an SMS can be more powerful than a bank alert SMS.  I replied the message asking for permission to come a bit late because I already had an appointment for that time by the next day....

The first one happened around 2005/2006. I had just finished serving (NYSC). I saw the job advert on a Newspaper in the job adverts section. It was for Business Development Officer in this company. The name of the company was First United Company. I sent my CV to their email address and they said they would be conducting an online test for me. They sent me the questions and the questions were quite impressive...as in...looked like real job test questions to me. When I mailed my answers to them they replied that I had passed and was going to get the job....but I would need to pay N1,000 for something. I can't remember if it was acceptance fee or training fee, but they wanted me to pay that cash to proceed with them. When I told my Dad about it, he told me to forget it that it was a scam...but with the advert on Newspaper, the impressive job test though online, I just felt like going ahead so I actually travelled from Sapele to Benin to pay into their account i...