A sting operation by the officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has led to the arrest of 792 suspects for their alleged involvement in cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scams.
The Executive Chairman of the anti-graft agency, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this at a news conference in Lagos on Monday.
He added that the suspects were apprehended on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, in a surprise operation at their hideout, an imposing seven-story edifice known as Big Leaf Building, on No.7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, following verifiable intelligence received by the Commission.
Foreigners deeply involved
Speaking during the media briefing at the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Commission, Olukoyede stated that 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, two Kharzartans, one Pakistani, one Indonesian were arrested during the operation.
- The EFCC’s boss, who spoke through the Director, of Public Affairs, EFCC, Commander of the EFCC, CE Wilson Uwujaren, further stated that the foreign nationals used the facility, which could be mistaken for a corporate headquarters of a financial establishment, to train their Nigerian accomplices on how to initiate romance and investment scams and also used the identities of their Nigerian accomplices to perpetrate their criminal activities.
- According to him, all the floors are equipped with high-end desktop computers. On the 5th floor alone, investigators recovered 500 SIM cards of local telcos that were bought for criminal purposes.
“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,” he explained.
How they operate
While giving further details about the modus operandi of the syndicate, the EFCC Chair said the Nigerian accomplices, who are assigned WhatsApp accounts linked to foreign telephone numbers, especially from Germany and Italy, engage victims in romantic conversations as well as phantom business and investment discussions to trick them to shop on the purported online investment shopping platform called http://yooto.com.
“For those who show interest, activation fees for an account on the platform start from USD 35.
“Investigation revealed that the criterion for recruiting these young Nigerians is proficiency in the use of computers, especially typing skill.
“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.
“Once the Nigerians are able to win the confidence of would-be victims, the foreigners would take over the actual task of defrauding the victims and proceed to block their Nigerian accomplices from the network. This would then leave them in the dark about the transaction,” he added.
- He, however, said the Nigerians involved in the alleged fraudulent activities “do not know the owners of the ‘company’ they work for because they are not offered letters of appointments or receive payment from a corporate account.”
- According to him, the suspected Nigerian accomplices are usually paid either in cash or through an individual’s account.
Foreigners leveraging Nigeria’s reputation for crime
Olukoyede said the Commission was working with its foregoing partners to establish the extent of the scam and the accomplices as well as the likelihood of any collaboration with organized international fraud cells.
The EFCC Chair also used the occasion to debunk the notion that Nigerians are behind the tonnes of frauds emanating 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.
- Also speaking during the occasion, the acting Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Commission, Michael Wetkas, sought greater collaboration with the media in the fight against corruption and economic and financial crimes.
- Items recovered from the suspects include desktop computers, mobile phones, laptop computers and cars at the point of arrest.
- The EFFC said the suspects would be charged to court after investigations are concluded.