792 Cryptocurrency Investment and Romance Fraud Suspects in Lagos Are Buried

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission -  EFCC
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EFCC busts syndicates of 792  suspected crypto investment and romance scams in  Lagos... 193 Chinese, Arabs, Filipinos,  others arrested
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that the Commission, in a  historic raid, arrested 792 suspects for their alleged involvement in  a cryptocurrency investment and romance  scam.
The suspects were  nabbed on Tuesday, December 10, 2024,  during a surprise operation at their hideout,  a seven-storey  high-rise building known as  the Big Leaf Building,  at No. 7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island,  Lagos, on verifiable  information received by the  Commission.
Addressing a  press conference on Monday, December 16,  2024 at the  Commission's headquarters in Lagos, Olukoyede  said that 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, two  Khazars, one  Pakistani and one Indonesian were arrested during the  operation. The EFCC boss, who spoke  through the Director, Public  Relations, EFCC, Commander EFCC,  CE Wilson Uwujaren,  also said that the  foreigners used the facility, which could be mistaken for  the headquarters of a financial  institution, to train their Nigerian  associates on how to  carry out romance and investment scams and also used the identities of their Nigerian  associates to  carry out their criminal  activities. According to him,  "all the floors are equipped with high-end desktop computers. On the 5th floor alone, investigators  found 500 SIM cards  from local  telecommunications companies acquired for criminal  purposes.
"Their Nigerian accomplices were recruited by foreign  barons to  seek out victims online through phishing,  mainly targeting Americans, Canadians,  Mexicans and  some other people from European  countries.
"They usually  equip them with desktop and mobile devices and create fake profiles for  them.
"The Nigerian accomplices  also obtain logs that allow them  to access  the communication lines and  foreign victims they chat with on WhatsApp, Instagram and  Telegram."
While giving  more details  on the  syndicate's modus  operandi, the EFCC  chairman said  that the Nigerian  operatives who are  given WhatsApp accounts linked to foreign  phone numbers, especially from Germany and Italy, engage victims in romantic  chats and ghost business and investment  discussions. to  entice them to  buy on the  supposed online investment  buying platform called www.yooto.com.  He added: "For those who show interest,  the fee to activate an account on the platform starts  at $35.
"The survey revealed that the  criteria for recruiting these young Nigerians is the  ability to use computers, especially  typing. Those who  pass the test are given desktop and mobile  devices, then  undergo two weeks of training on how to  pose as foreign  women in romance scam chats and convince victims to invest in  the cryptocurrency investment  scam by their employers.
"Once the Nigerians are able to  gain the  trust of  potential victims, the foreigners take over the actual task of defrauding the victims and proceed to block their Nigerian  associates from the network. This then  leaves them in the dark about the  transaction."
However, he said  that the Nigerians involved in the alleged fraudulent  activity "do not know the owners of the  'company' they work for because they  do not  receive appointment letters or  payments from a  company account."
According to him, the suspected Nigerian accomplices are usually paid in cash or through an  individual's account. Olukoyede said the Commission was working with its  aforementioned partners to  determine the  scale of the  fraud and  accomplices, as well as the  possibility of any collaboration with organized international fraud cells.
The EFCC  chairman also used the  opportunity to debunk the notion that Nigerians are behind  thousands of frauds emanating from the  country.
"Foreigners are taking advantage of  the unfortunate reputation  of our country as a haven  for fraud to  settle here to  hide their  cruel criminal enterprises.  But as this operation has shown, there will be no  place for criminals in  Nigeria ", he said.
Also speaking  on the  occasion, the  Acting Zonal  Director of the Zonal Directorate of the  Commission in Lagos, Michael Wetkas,  called for greater  cooperation with the media in the fight against corruption and economic and financial  crimes. Items recovered from the suspects include desktop computers,  cell phones,  laptops and cars at the  time of  the arrest.
The suspects will be  brought to  justice after investigations are  completed.