The German Police on Wednesday announced the arrest of 11 suspected members of a Nigerian mafia group behind a large-scale dating scam.
Bavarian police said in a statement that the Black Axe gang was involved internationally in “multiple areas of criminal activity”, with a focus in Germany on dating scams and money-laundering.
The police said that the dating trick was a modern form of marriage fraud.
“Using false identities, the fraudsters for example signalled their intention to marry and in the course of further contact repeatedly demand money under various pretexts,” the police said.
The police added that the money was subsequently transferred to Black Axe in Nigeria via financial agents.
Explaining further, the German Police said the gang used a “commodity-based money laundering” scheme where products, often with a seeming “charitable purpose”, were bought and delivered to Nigeria.