NIGERIA: EFCC Arrests 792 Suspected Fraudsters In Lagos

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has arrested 792 suspects during the raid of a seven-storey building in Lagos.

The suspects, which included Nigerians, Chinese, Arab and Filipino nationals, were allegedly involved in cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scams.

The arrest was revealed by the EFCC Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujeren, during a press conference on Monday, in Lagos.

He said, the agency has been on their case for a while and after months of surveillance, the EFCC operatives eventually arrested the suspects in a “surprise operation” at their hideout, a seven-storey building popularly known as Bigleaf on 7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Uwujeren noted that the foreigners arrested include 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, two Kharzartans, one Pakistani, one Indonesian.

“Investigation established that the foreign nationals use the facility at 7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, 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 use the identities of Nigerians to perpetrate their criminal activities,” He explains.

Describing their operations, the EFCC spokesperson said the arrested foreigners were using the building to “train Nigerians on how to initiate romance and investment scams.

He further added that the foreigners created fake profiles for their Nigerian accomplices to engage in romance and cryptocurrency scams.

Uwujaren asserted that all the floors of the seven-storey building were fully equipped with “high-end” desktop computers, with over 500 sim cards of Nigerian telecommunications operators, which the agency recovered.

“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,” Uwujaren said.

“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 added.

Uwujeren highlighted that the fraudsters also use assigned WhatsApp accounts linked to foreign telephone numbers, especially from Germany and Italy to engage victims in romantic conversations and fake business and investment. They would then lure them to shop on the fraudulent online investment shopping platform called www.yooto.com, and charge $35 as activation fees for an account on the platform.

The EFCC confirmed that the suspects are currently in custody with a valid remand warrant and will be arraigned soon.