The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested 792 suspects for their alleged crimes of cryptocurrency investment fraud and online romance scams. The suspects comprise 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, two Kharzartans, one Pakistani, and one Indonesian while the rest are Nigerians.
According to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, who was represented by the Director of Public Affairs, EFCC, Commander of the EFCC, CE Wilson Uwujaren, during a press conference on Monday, he described the operation as the largest in a day for the agency and tagged it as a “landmark raid.”
The commission said that the suspects were arrested on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, via a surprise operation to their hideout. This was following a tip-off and verified intelligence received, According to the agency’s statement, the suspects operate in a seven-story edifice known as Big Leaf Building, on No.7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to the EFCC Boss, the foreigners trained their Nigerian accomplices in how to dazzle around investment and romance scams while using the Nigerians’ identities as a cover-up. The suspects also carefully selected their hideout, as it could be easily mistaken for the corporate headquarters of a financial establishment.
Recounting the seized items, the agency identified that all the floors were equipped with high-end desktop computers. About 500 SIM cards of local telcos used for criminal activities were found on the building’s third floor. Other items recovered at the point of arrest include desktop computers, mobile phones, laptop computers, and cars.
“Their Nigerian accomplices were recruited by the foreign kingpins to prospect for victims online through phishing, targeting mostly Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, and several others from European countries. They usually arm them with desktop computers and mobile devices and create fake profiles for them. The Nigerian accomplices are equally provided with logs that allow them access to foreign communication lines and victims, which they chat with on WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram,” the EFCC said.
The EFCC Chair added that Nigerian accomplices who operate WhatsApp accounts linked to foreign telephone numbers such as Italy and Germany trick them into visiting and spending on the online investment shopping platform called http://yooto.com. Those who show interest are required to pay an activation fee starting from $35. They also engage their victims in romantic and investment conversations.
Exploitation of Nigerians for online scams
While shedding more light on the suspects’ huge operation, the EFCC boss expressed that the foreigners recruit the computer literate and put them into the required training for the dubious work.
“Investigation revealed that the criterion for recruiting these young Nigerians is proficiency in the use of computers, especially typing skills. Those who passed the test are given desktop computers and mobile devices and then taken through a two-week induction on how to personate foreign females in romance scam chats and convince victims to invest in their employers’ cryptocurrency investment scam,” he said.
He added further that the foreigners took control of the task once the Nigerians had success in convincing and defrauding their victims. This leaves the Nigerians in the dark after they must have been cut off in communication with their victims.
Likewise, with no letter of appointment or payment from a corporate account, these Nigerians do not know the owners of the company they work for. EFCC stressed that Nigerian accomplices are usually paid in cash or through an individual’s account.
The EFCC Executive Chairman reiterated that foreigners are reaping off Nigerians to launch fraud operations from the country.
“Foreigners are taking advantage of our nation’s unfortunate reputation as a haven of frauds to establish a foothold here to disguise their atrocious criminal enterprises. But, as this operation has shown, there will be no hiding places for criminals in Nigeria,” he said.
Olukoyede concluded that the agency has started working with organized international fraud cells to determine the extent of the scams after which the suspects will be charged in court once investigations are concluded.
Nigeria is becoming a hideout for foreign scammers.
With the arrest of 192 foreigners in the romance and investment scam, the use of Nigeria as a hideout and Nigerians as a cover-up by foreigners is not only alarming but gradually becoming the order of the day.
Last month, the Federal High Court in Abuja granted bail to 109 foreign hackers who faced a six-count charge on high-level cybercrimes and hacking activities allegedly committed in Katampe, Abuja earlier this year.
Their bail ruling was delivered based on the application moved by the defence counsel, James Onoja, SAN where the accused were requested to present five sureties along with a total sum of N1 billion. The court added that along with the presentation, each of the sureties must own a landed property within the Abuja metropolis and must submit two recent passport photographs to the court.
On another note, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Abuja Command, arrested 130 “high-level” cybercrime suspects earlier in November. The cybercrime suspects, arrested in Abuja, comprise 113 foreign nationals and 17 Nigerians, including 87 males and 26 females from China and Malaysia. Devices such as computer gadgets and several highly sophisticated devices used for criminal activities were recovered from the suspects.
To curb the spread of fraud activities, Olukoyede said in November that the agency is building a cybercrime research centre. “We are putting up a Cybercrime Research Centre in collaboration with one of the fintechs in Nigeria. The centre will take a minimum of 500 young Nigerians at a time and train them in cyber security and all areas of cybercrime research so that we’ll be able to make something out of them,” he added.
The EFCC boss also informed that a Rapid Response Desk has been established which shall receive various cybercrime complaints.
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