In a significant crackdown on cybercrime, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested 792 individuals, including a notable number of foreign nationals, for their involvement in cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scams. The arrests were made on December 10 at a facility in Lagos, Nigeria’s bustling commercial capital, where the perpetrators operated a sophisticated fraud network.
EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren announced on December 16 that the apprehended individuals included 148 Chinese nationals, 40 Filipinos, two Kazakhstanis, a Pakistani, and an Indonesian. These foreign criminals were reportedly the masterminds behind a far-reaching scam that preyed on individuals-predominantly women-across North America, Europe, and parts of Latin America.
The fraudsters operated out of the “Big Leaf” building in Lagos, which acted as their base of operations. Uwujaren revealed that the foreign nationals had turned the facility into a training ground for their Nigerian accomplices, teaching them how to lure unsuspecting victims through online platforms. The fraudsters used a combination of romance bait and promises of cryptocurrency investment opportunities to manipulate their targets into handing over large sums of money.
“The Nigerian accomplices were recruited by the foreign kingpins to prospect for victims online through phishing,” Uwujaren explained. “They targeted mostly Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, and several others from European countries.”
Once the Nigerian recruits gained the trust of their victims, they would pass the details on to the foreign nationals, who would then carry out the financial scams. According to Uwujaren, these criminals capitalized on emotional manipulation to push their victims into making fraudulent investments, often involving cryptocurrencies.
The EFCC disclosed that the syndicate employed modern communication........