Victor Ezeja- Arrests 402 Suspects in 3 months
NIGERIA’S anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared the Lekki area of Lagos state as the new hub of internet-related fraud.
The agency through a post on its Facebook page on Friday, stated that data from investigation activities of the Lagos Command of the EFCC, for the second quarter of 2021 revealed that Lekki District was the preferred location of residence for different kinds of cyber crime syndicates in the state.
The agency said, “Between April and June, 2021, the Advance Fee Fraud and Cyber Crime Sections of the Command recorded a total of 402 internet-related fraud arrests. While the Advance Fee Fraud Section was responsible for 243 arrests, the Cyber Crime Section executed 18 sting operations which resulted in 159 arrests, from which 13 convictions have so far been recorded.
“Of the 159 suspects arrested by the Cyber Crime Section, 70 are from Lekki, comprising communities such as Ajah, Badore, Victoria Garden City, Sangotedo and Oniru.
“Ajah accounted for 24 suspects, while Oniru and Sangotedo had 14 and 13 suspects respectively. Badore had 8 suspects. Neighbouring Ikoyi and Eko Atlantic had 2 and one suspect each. Ikorodu and Alagbado on the Lagos Mainland make up the remainder.”
The anti-graft body, noted that most of the suspects are young adults, adding that 82 of them are between 25 and 34 years, which according to the agency was an indication that most of them were either still in school or school drop outs or recent graduates.
The investigation data according to the post further revealed that majority of the internet crimes were in the form of online dating scam, also known as online romance scam.
“Analysis of the data from the Cyber Crime Section further shows that the dominant form of internet crime is Dating Scam/Online Dating Scam/Romance Scam. Sixty Four percent (64%) of individuals arrested are involved in romance scam, followed closely by ‘Middle Man Scam’ and ‘Picking’ which account for 8% and 7% respectively of those arrested.
“The 64% involved in the dating scam benefitted to the tune of N8,310,000; $349,290USD; £900; €10 and Cryptocurrency 0.17513.
Other typologies of fraud identified in the investigation include forgery, possession of fraudulent documents, spamming, credit card fraud, impersonation, rental scam, loan fraud, Business Email Compromise, Hacking, stealing, cheque scam, phishing, and money laundering.
“The data also reveals gift cards, at 39%, as the prevalent method employed by the suspects to access their illicit funds. It is followed by bank transfers at 27% and Cryptocurrency at 21%.
EFCC disclosed that a total of $12,512.49 US dollars was recovered from the e-wallet accounts of four suspects within the period.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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