Chapter 16: The Day I Got Scammed for Sneakers I Never Saw
After the rice apocalypse, I told myself:
"Kelvin, upgrade your look. Maybe you're unlucky because you're dressing like 2010."
So I decided to buy fresh sneakers online.
White Air Force 1s.
The dream shoe of every guy trying to fix his life.
I found a page on Instagram:
Name: "Authentic Kicks Gh."
Bio: "We deliver original sneakers! Payment first!"
Profile picture: A shoe floating in the clouds.
It looked legit.
They said the shoes were "on sale" for half price.
My brain didn't even think twice.
I paid instantly via mobile money.
They replied with:
> "Thank you! Your delivery is being processed. Kindly exercise patience."
I was so excited.
I even told my WhatsApp status:
> "Big things loading. Watch this space."
Big things, indeed.
Three hours later, I texted them:
> "Hello, when will my sneakers arrive?"
They replied with a GIF of a man disappearing into thin air.
That's when I knew.
I had been played.
Scammed.
Finessed.
Bamboozled.
The page blocked me immediately after.
I sat on my bed in my torn slippers, holding my dead dreams like a newborn.
The worst part?
The next day, they changed their page name to "Authentic Rice Cookers Gh."
Rice cookers.
Maybe they saw my burnt rice on the news.