Jessica Ibeh, a 22-year-old student and self-acclaimed businesswoman, has used the story of a young boy’s eye surgery to raise money and disappeared afterwards.

In January, Jessica told her social media followers to send donations to her Access Bank and Zenith Bank accounts to raise money for the eye surgery of the son of Natasha Irikefe, one of her followers.

She used a picture of the boy’s bandaged face to solicit on Telegram and WhatsApp. According to some of the donors, she amassed over N5 million in a few days, but the scam turned on its head when Irikefe spoke publicly to deny knowledge of the fundraiser and receipt of the donations.

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Irikefe, addressing donors on WhatsApp, said she approached Jessica for the said fundraiser, but never got money from her as her son’s dad paid for the surgery.

She said, “I am a single mom, not ashamed of it. My kid’s dad is in Australia. I fend for my kids and I am proud of it. I asked [Jessica] when my boy was pierced with a compass in school. Out of fear and distress, I cried out”.

When Irikefe went public, Jessica sent her a message, accusing her of intentionally making false claims because she had never benefited from her giveaways.

Halleluyah Morounfoluwa, one of the donors, told FIJ that she had been donating to similar courses since 2020, waiting for when she would benefit as well.

Explaining how the scam works, she said Jessica asks her followers who need financial aid to share their stories with her, after which she puts out a call for donations. When her followers donate, she claims to give one selected person in need.

Morounfoluwa said she kept donating tens of thousands of naira, but when she approached Jessica for aid during one alleged N200,000 giveaway, she never got a reply.

JESSICA USES HER MOTHER’S ACCOUNT

Ijeoma Samuel Ibeh, Jessica’s mother, could be a beneficiary of some of the donations made.

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From a WhatsApp group created by some of the donors, FIJ obtained one of Jessica’s messages sent to solicit funds. The account name and number belonged to her mother. The message clearly stated it too.

Her message read, “So my mom said bank’s debiting 10% out of every money that enters her business account. Na why I no wan open business account since; Bank and Wahala. So, account changed:

“SAMUEL IBEH IJEOMA
ZENITH BANK
2254663235″

She had earlier used her mother’s current account to receive donations.

FIJ observed that aggrieved members of this group had titled the group, “Beware of GlowbyJessy.” As of press time, there were 166 participants in the group.

TELEGRAM GROUP MEMBERSHIP FOR N10,000

Late last year, Jessica marketed a Telegram group with the promise that members would get business opportunities there. Women seeking to be members of ‘The Lounge 101,’ the group she marketed, paid N5,000 each, while men paid N10,000. This is according to Eniola Odunsi, a member of the group.

The scam was later exposed to the group’s admin, simply identified as Meechy.

Confirming he had no hand in the sales, Meechy said on the group, “She sold my group link without my permission”.

CYPRUS SCHOLARSHIP SCAM WITH BOYFRIEND

In January, one Anita joined a WhatsApp group where Jessica promised full scholarship and visa aid for a fee to anyone who wanted to study at Cyprus International University.

Skeptical about the scheme, she made her independent findings and contacted the institution to confirm if what Jessica said was possible. According to Anita, the university denied it, and said only high-scoring candidates get its rare full scholarship.

FIJ gathered that Jessica’s boyfriend, one Lawrence, was at the center of the visa application process and travel arrangements, often advertising opportunities to prospective students.

GLOW BY JESSY GOES OFFLINE

When FIJ checked her social media activity, our reporter discovered her Facebook account was restricted, and her Instagram account, @glow_by_jessy, no longer existed.

Aggrieved donors have a page, @glowby_jessy_na_scam, where they educate people on her activities.

In one of its posts, an Instagram user, @tif_n_tit_stores, claimed N300,000 was scammed from her by Jessica and Lawrence, who posed as hair vendors.

When FIJ contacted Jessica, she said she could not comment on the allegations. On Irikefe’s son’s surgery, she told FIJ that the donation was for another mother, and that people were spreading lies about her.