Damola Akinola, a gadget retailer based in Ikeja, Lagos, has narrated how Mike Lucky John, an online cryptocurrency trader, defrauded him of N500,000.

Akinola told FIJ that he contacted John on Instagram after an acquaintance sang his praises as a successful crypto trader. He said when John convinced him that he was not a fraudster, he transferred a million naira to him.

“I paid him on March 21 because I needed USDT to get some goods. He assured me that he would send it that night, but he never did. The following day, I asked him why he had not sent the USDT to me. He said he had not received the money,” he told FIJ.

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“I told him to send his statement of account, so I could go to my bank to complain. Minutes after I said this, he called and said he had seen the money. Irritated, I asked him to send my money, as I was no longer interested.”

Akinola said John told him he would send the N1 million in the early hours of March 23. By 3 am, John had sent N500,000. Akinola stated that John insisted that he had passed his limit for the day and would send the rest at the break of dawn.

“I told him he could not pay up in the morning if he had limit issues, as they last for 24 hours. I chatted with him in the morning, but he did not pay. He then ignored my chats from March 24 to March 28,” he said.

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Akinola said he told John he would go to press, but he pleaded, saying he would pay on April 5.

“As of now, he has yet to pay. I need my money as a matter of urgency, but he does not seem like he wants to pay me. I called his father but he said he could not reach him,” he said.

FIJ contacted John, but his three lines did not connect. He had not replied to a text sent to him at press time. Also, FIJ called John’s father, but he declined to comment.