The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it has carried out its largest single-day operation against cryptocurrency and romance scam networks, arresting 193 foreigners and 599 Nigerian suspects in Lagos.
The commission’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this to journalists in Lagos yesterday.
Uwujaren said among the 193 foreigners are Chinese, Arabs and Filipinos, whom he said were nabbed when the commission’s operatives bursted the gang in a landmark operation in Lagos on December 10.
He said the suspects included 114 Chinese nationals, 40 Filipinos, two Kazakhstans, one Pakistani and one Indonesian.
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He stated that they were members of a syndicate of cybercrime and cryptocurrency investment fraudsters.
“The suspects were apprehended in a surprise operation at their hideout, an imposing seven-storey edifice known as Big Leaf Building.
“The breakthrough followed actionable intelligence and months of surveillance and monitoring of the activities of the syndicate.
“Investigation established that the foreign nationals used 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.
“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, who they chat with on WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram.
“They are also assigned WhatsApp accounts linked to foreign telephone numbers, especially from Germany and Italy.
“Their jobs are to engage victims in romantic conversations and phantom business and investment discussions to trick them into shopping on the purported online investment shopping platform called www.yooto.com. For those who show interest, activation fees for an account on the platform starts from $35,” Uwujaren said.
He said further investigation was ongoing to establish the extent of the scam and the accomplices, including the likelihood of any collaboration with organised international fraud cells.
The EFCC’s spokesman also said that items recovered from the suspects include desktop computers, mobile phones, laptop computers and cars, adding that the suspects have made statements, while their systems have also been screened.
“They are currently being held with a valid remand warrant and will be arraigned in court in the coming days,” he said.
Weak systems escalating fraudulent activities – Experts
In an interview with one of our correspondents last night, a financial crimes’ expert, Johnson Odaudu, attributed lapses in the escalation of fraudulent activities to Nigeria’s weak systems.
“See, there is a wide crack in our institutions ranging from financial institutions to security institutions. The government knows where the lapses are. The only thing we need is the political will to fix it.
“I will not want to use technical terms so that Nigerians can understand. The truth is that, some of our major public financial institutions are responsible for certain transactions.
“If they do their work diligently as expected, all these won’t be happening under our nose without any deterrence,” he said.
Another security expert, Julius Oderinwale, queried how those foreigners entered the country.
He said: “This is where the country is getting it wrong. I don’t want to blame any agency but the truth is that, we are not getting it right anytime soon. Why is it difficult to determine the handiwork of each and every foreigner in this country?
“You will agree with me that there are gaps in the financial and security systems of the country, but that doesn’t mean we should continue this way.
“There is a need to put a system in place to checkmate this kind of development rather than fighting it” he said.
Also speaking on the matter when they appeared on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme, last night, the Secretary General, Follow the Money, an arm of Connected Development (CODE), Muktar Modibbo, and Adamu Rabi’u, a monitoring and evaluation specialist on policy, finance, risk, and good governance, commended the EFCC for the discovery, but underscored the need for Nigerians to help in securing the country.
According to Modibbo, people leaving around the questionable building should have raised the red flag immediately they witnessed the unusual activity around the area. “Securing the country is not solely the responsibility of law enforcement agencies. We have to support them,” he said.
On his part, Rabiu said Immigration, Customs police operatives and various agencies working at our airports, seaports and land borders must rise to the challenge.
“There is no excuse for foreigners to be getting access into our country without genuine reason,” he said.
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