Farmer shares Christmas eve scam experience, offers a vital lesson for traders
A farmer recently recounted a troubling experience that could have cost him a significant portion of his produce on Christmas Eve, serving as a vital lesson for those engaged in online business transactions.
This is contained in a post he made available on his page via a popular social media platform, X formally Twitter.
He mentioned that around on Christmas eve At around 9 a.m., he missed several persistent calls due to his phone being on silent mode.
Once awake, he noticed numerous missed calls and messages, prioritizing a particular number that had called multiple times.
Upon returning the call, he was greeted by a man introducing himself as Reverend Father James Lubega from Namugongo Catholic Shrines.
The man claimed he had been referred to the farmer after seeing his social media posts about selling onions.
After confirming he had onions available at a price of 3,000 shillings per kilogram, the caller expressed interest in purchasing 300 kilograms for distribution to various locations, including Namugongo and Rubaga. However, a twist soon emerged.
The so-called Reverend Father requested the farmer sell the onions at 4,000 shillings per kilogram and remit 1,000 shillings per kilogram to him as a “share.”
Sensing unease but needing the sale, the farmer reluctantly agreed to deliver the onions at 3,000 shillings per kilogram, avoiding any deceptive pricing. Shortly after, the caller referred him to a “sister” at the shrine to finalize payment and delivery arrangements.
The farmer, well-versed in the risks of online scams, insisted on a deposit before dispatching the goods. However, the “sister” feigned illness and claimed she couldn’t make a payment upfront, urging the farmer to trust her since she was at a religious site.
Despite initial reservations, the farmer sent his delivery driver with strict instructions not to release the goods without payment.
On arrival, the driver encountered further complications, as the sister’s phone went unanswered, and another excuse emerged about her being rushed to the hospital.
The farmer grew suspicious and attempted to contact the original caller, only to find the number disconnected.
A quick inquiry at the shrine’s gate confirmed his fears: this was a common scam. Security personnel revealed that similar incidents had happened to other traders.
Fortunately, the farmer’s precautions paid off, and his delivery driver returned with the goods intact. Although he incurred minor losses in delivery fees, he avoided falling victim to the scam.
This ordeal serves as a critical reminder to online vendors: always demand deposits and remain vigilant, no matter how convincing a buyer may seem.
The farmer concluded by stating he still has onions available for sale—this time with added vigilance.
FULL STATEMENT:
“How they tried to Scam me on Christmas Eve. A lesson to all those doing business online, please Stay Woke.”
“At around 9am, a call comes in but I miss it because I’ve recently been waking up late coz of working long hours and for the fact that my phone is always on silent mode whenever I enter my bed. This is because of the large volume of calls I usually get that tend to disorganise my sleep.”
“After a few minutes, the person calls again. And again and again. I miss them still. An hour later, I wake up to a turn of missed calls and messages from various people. As usual, I try to return them all. But starting with one who has called a couple of times.”
“I usually deem them very important and urgent 😂😂😂😂 So munange nga I call…. Hello, my name is Duke, I missed your calls, sorry I was still resting when you called.”
“Him: oohh Duke, how are you my son.”
“Me; I’m okay Papa. (Wasn’t sure what to call him but because he had addressed me as son, I settled for papa). Out of respect.”
“Him; My name is Reverend Father James Lubega, at Namugongo Catholic Shrines. I called earlier today because someone recommended you to us after seeing your X tweets that you are selling Onions. Is that true.”
“Me: Yes Father, I am selling each kg at 3k but if you are taking more than a 100kgs we can negotiate a better price for you.”
“Him; We want about 300 kgs because we are going to distribute it to different places. 100kgs will go to Namugongo, 100kgs to Rubaga and 100 kgs to a place (I don’t remember well right now.).”
“Me: Yes father, I can deliver that even right now but at a small fee. Namugongo will be 10K.”
“Him: That’s fine. However, I had told the sisters at the shrines that you sell onions at 4k a kg. So when you deliver, stick to 4k and once you receive the money, please send me my 1k share. Is that a deal, ?”
“Me: Well father. I rarely do this and I don’t want it to affect my reputation because I posted a different price and now you want me to deliver at a different price. ? (This was the first red flag)🚩”
“Him: My son, we’ve been buying onions at 5k sometimes 6k a kg, 4k is a very good price deal so they won’t even question it.”
“Me: Overthinks everything and I’m like well, what do I do now, I need money and it’s not my fault that this person is using me to overcharge. 😩😩😩 I was like God forgive me.”
“I told him, Father, I’m going to bring the onions, but I will give it to you at 3k. Anything else is non of my business.”
“He then tells me, that’s okay, but I’m leaving this place in a few, so hurry. I tell him it might not be possible as my delivery guy had just gone out to deliver some other orders. I will only have onions his way in about half an hour.”
“He quickly suggests that he shares with me another sister’s number to which I deliver to and she pays me.
We agree. And half an hour later I pack onions, 300kgs to be delivered to Namugongo. But as usual, big orders are usually delivered upon a small deposit.”
“I’ve lived long enough to know how fraudsters in this country work. So to show commitment, a person is required to make a small deposit before goes leave my sight.”
“So I call the guy, he picks and quickly tells me to talk to the sister to handle everything including payments.”
“I then call the sister and I request for a deposit before goods are delivered. She quickly feigned a sickness and claimed that she didn’t have any money on MM and couldn’t move out coz she wasn’t feeling good.”
“She then tells me to trust her after all she was at the Catholic shrines, a Godly place.”
“I’m like cool. I buy into her story and boom, my delivery guy sets off. But with clear instructions. DO NOT GIVE OUT GOODS BEFORE YOU ARE PAID. He knows this instruction very well. Every time I tell him this, he knows I don’t trust the client and he should tread carefully.”
“Upon reaching Namugongo, my guy calls the sister but all in vain. Tries several times to no response. He is then forced to call me.”
“Him; Boss Omu Sister takwata simu (This sister is not picking up) what do I do?”
“Me; let me call her first I see. “
“She gladly picks and claims she had been rushed to the nearest hospital because her situation worsened. I then told her that the delivery guy had reached the Catholic shrines. What do we do, who do we see?”
“She tells me that the delivery guy should come to the hospital where she is, gives the Askari and the goes to the Shrines, at the gate an Askari will give him the money.”
“I then asked her, why then don’t we just leave at the shrines gate where we were picking up the money. ??”
“She tells me, the person and the car going to pick the onions to take to rubaga were with her so she requested we deliver it to the hospital she was.”
“That’s when I knew I was being played. I then remembered to have heard similar stories from farmers who once delivered their rabbit meat to someone at the Namugongo shrines and got scammed.”
“It then dawned on me that I was going through the same process. But I decided to give it a try.”
“When I insisted, the sister got a bit rude. She wondered why we didn’t trust her. So I was forced to call the first number that had contacted me only to find it off.
Calling back the sisters number, it was also off. And that’s when I knew it was all a plan to rob me clean.”
“I asked my delivery guy to ask at the gate if they knew the people we were dealing with. To our surprise, the security guards told us of the many scandals involving such people that have happened to a lot of people in the past.”
“That’s when we knew we were going to be scammed clean. I told my guy to return, good thing with our onions. I’d lost a few shillings coz I was gonna pay the delivery guy, but good thing, I had my Onions intact.
Anyway guys, I still have onions,”
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