On Saturday, the 6th April, my birthday took an undesirable turn. I had gone to the ATM to make a cash withdrawal, unbeknownst to me, a fraudster behind had installed a skimming device on the ATM. Within minutes, he had captured my card details and pin. Two million naira was withdrawn from my account, and the ATM had immediately seized my card. I alerted the bank security and was adviced to return on a weekday.

The first alert struck on my way out of the bank, and my mind went into a frenzy. I spent the rest of the day on the phone and on visits to the Police Station. The pain of losing money that huge on a day that was supposed to be special, to me, was inconsolable. However, as the days went by, I refused to let that incident define me. Rather, I took proactive steps to secure my finances and became more vigilant. Looking back, that day had taught me a valuable lesson about resilience and perseverance. I learned to stay clam, and focused. And although I never recovered my money, I have been reshaped in many ways I was not.