The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center, NPF-NCCC has arrested at least four suspects in connection with an alleged case of sextortion and romance scam.
Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who made this known in a statement on Thursday night, identified three of the suspects as Abodunrin Rasheed, Abodunrin Tunde, and Abodunrin Rokeeb.
He said they were apprehended following a report via the NPF-NCCC e-reporting portal and an intelligence report from the Centre.
According to the statement, investigations revealed that the suspects met a Croatian national on a dating app and pretended to be a woman.
He said their continuous chats progressed to Instagram and WhatsApp leading to an intimate relationship.
“However, the Croatian was deceived into sending nude pictures of himself through the dating app. The suspects subsequently conspired and pressured him to pay ransom or have his pictures sent to his family and friends.
“The operatives of the NPF-NCCC conducted a due investigation, following the obtained information from the report, which led to the apprehension of the suspects and the recovery of the following exhibits related to the crime. The recovered exhibits include six iPhones, one Techno phone, one Samsung phone, and a Lexus car.
“Further investigations revealed that the suspects have previously engaged in numerous similar cybercriminal activities, both collectively and individually, defrauding and extorting numerous victims globally. The proceeds of these crimes were primarily received through gift cards like the iTunes gift cards, steam gift cards etc. The suspects will be charged in court upon completion of the investigations,” the statement added.