He called me by name and said; “you can trust me”. This was the very statement that made me give him the password to my email. A chameleon is known for its colour adaptive nature which serves as a means for protection against any predator coming to attack it. It is also stealth moving animal. I am not here to talk about the chameleon rather I am here because of an event that happened between me and my friend just this past week. I said I was not going to tell anybody what happened but knowing that someone somewhere may be on the verge of being used or played by a friend, I decided to use my experience as a lesson to others.
It all started three days before the main day. I received a call from him and he was telling me how his mother has been sick for the past few weeks and how he has been spending money on her treatment. I was touched by his story that I had to ask for his account details just for me to support him as my friend; so I thought then. After sending him the money, he called back and expressed his gratitude for the money I sent to him. Two days after, I got a call from him telling me how he needed a favour from me, that he has been trying to fill an online form but they are requesting for an email that is over ten years. I remembered that I was the one who opened his first email for him so that made me not to doubt him. I asked how I could be of help and he said that he would want me to give my email logging password so that he can be able to verify himself once they send the verification code to the mail.
At first, I disagreed but when he now told me that I am the only friend he could trust and that I can as well trust him. He even suggested that I can change my password once he is done with the verification. I had no other choice than to extend a hand of favour to my friend. After sending him the logging password, he called me and said that he will try to complete the filling of the form that night so that I can change the password. I told him not to worry that I trust him because I believe that we have come a long way as friends. For record's sake, we have been very close friends for more than twenty years and in all these years, he has not given me any reason to doubt him which was why I gave him the logging password. After a day or two, I got a debit alert from my bank, at first I thought it was just an error, but when the second debit alert entered just in less than 10 minutes I knew that something that my account has been hacked.
I hurriedly rushed down to the nearest branch of my bank and entered a complaint with the customer care agent. He collected my account number and within a minute he was already looking at my statement of account. He pointed out that two transactions were made from a different IP address which was showing on his system. He asked me if I was the one who made the transactions, I told him that I was not and that was why I rushed down to the bank when I got the debit alert. He now told me that he has blocked my account against any form of withdrawal and online transactions. He gave me a form to fill for change of password which I did instantly and my password was changed. In my curiosity concerning who could have done such a thing to me, I asked if there was a way for me to know who did that to me. He looked at me for some time and me this heartbreaking question; did you give out your email logging details to anyone recently? I told him yes and he told me that my account was hacked through my email.
At that moment, I was battling between disbelief and betrayal because the only person I have ever given my password was my friend which meant that he was the one who hacked my account. I could control the tears that were just surging down my cheek because I could not believe that a friend I have known for over twenty years could just do such a thing to me. I called him as soon as I left the bank premises. When I asked what he did with my password and email he kept quiet for some time and then said; I did not do anything other than what I told you that I needed it for. He asked me if there was any problem, I told him that everything was ok. As soon as I ended the call, I called one of another friend of ours and narrated the whole story to him. After listening to me, he asked me if I have the IP address that the banker showed me, I told him yes that the customer agent gave it to me.
My friend told me to give him a few days that he will find out who owns the IP and where it was coming from. After two days I got a call from my friend that he has located the owner of the IP. At first, I was apprehensive because I did not want him to tell me that it was my friend that was responsible for the hack. He told me to meet at a junction that he wants to take me to the address where the IP was located. When we got to the building, I became very sure that it was my friend who hacked me because I was just standing at the entrance of his apartment. Just to cut the long story short. When we confronted him, he could not deny because the IP was his and when I asked why he did it, he just looked at me and said; “I was just trying to survive”. I could not believe my ears because I trusted him with my whole heart. When I asked him if it was because of his mother’s health, he looked at me again and said; “who told you that my mother is sick?” at this point, I could not recognise my friend anymore the only statement that came to my mouth was; you are a chameleon?
I left the house and left behind a chameleon that came as a friend just because of his greed and selfishness. I am telling this story for you to learn from my mistake which was trusting a friend not knowing that he was just a chameleon. I have learnt my lessons in a hard way please learn from my mistake and be wise.
