Nigerian brothers get 17 years for sextortion that led to Michigan teen's death

Two brothers from Nigeria were sentenced Thursday to 17 1/2 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sexually extorting more than 100 young men and teenage boys across the United States, including a Michigan high school student who died by suicide, prosecutors said.

Samuel Ogoshi, 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21, each pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to exploit teenage boys sexually and were later extradited from Nigeria to the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan. They were accused of running an international sextortion ring in which they posed as young women and targeted over 100 victims, including at least 11 minors.

Prosecutors said the Ogoshis conducted their sextortion scheme while living in Nigeria, where they bought hacked social media accounts and used them to lure victims with fake profiles. The scheme resulted in the death of 17-year-old high school student, Jordan DeMay, in March 2022.

DeMay died from a self-inflicted gunshot at his home in Marquette, Michigan, after he was blackmailed by Samuel Ogoshi, according to court records.

"To criminals who commit these schemes: you are not immune from justice. We will track you down and hold you accountable, even if we have to go halfway around the world to do so," U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement. "And to parents, teenagers, and everyone who uses a cell phone: please, please be careful. These devices can connect you to criminal networks around the world. Don’t assume people are who they say they are. Don’t share compromising images. And if you’re a victim, please reach out."

Financial sextortion schemes have spiked in recent years with scammers lurking on social media, pretending to be attractive women and persuading men to send nude or suggestive photographs and videos. They then use the compromising imagery to blackmail the victim by threatening to post it on social media or send it to the victim's loved ones in exchange for cash.
 

Ogoshi brothers created collages of victims' personal photos

Prosecutors said the Ogoshis used their fake social media profiles to message victims. They researched online about the victims to learn where they lived, worked, attended school, and to find out the identities of victims' families and friends.

The Ogoshis then solicited sexually explicit images from their minor victims and created a collage of photographs that included the compromising image with other photos of the victim and their school, family, and friends. The two brothers "threatened to disclose the collages to the family, friends, and classmates of the victim unless the victim agreed to pay money using online cash applications," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The Ogoshis "used and shared scripts and ideas of how to extort money from the victims," according to court records. A script excerpt showed an example:

"Hey, I have screenshot all ur followers and tags and those that comment on ur post. I can send this nudes to everyone and also send your nudes Until it goes viral….All you’ve to do is to cooperate with me and I will not expose you," an indictment reads.
 

Michigan teen blackmailed with sexually explicit image for $1K

The Ogoshis used an Instagram account under the username "dani.robertts," according to court records. On March 25, 2022, Samuel Ogoshi used the account to target DeMay.

Court records show that Samuel Ogoshi solicited a sexually explicit image from DeMay and then threatened to share the image to the teen's social media followers, and his family and friends if he didn't pay $1000. After DeMay only paid $300, Samuel Ogoshi made more threats to send the compromising photo to DeMay's family and friends.

DeMay then messaged that he was going to kill himself, according to court records. Message excerpts included in court records show Samuel Ogoshi responding with "Good," "Do that fast," and "Or I’ll make you do it."

Prosecutors said Samson Ogoshi used the same Instagram account to target a 21-year-old who lived in Warrens, Wisconsin.
 

Sextortion schemes operated on international scale

A June report, released jointly by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and technology nonprofit Thorn, found that teenage boys are often the primary target in these schemes. The report also identified Nigeria as one of the countries most often tied to sextortion schemes.

Those involved in the schemes are also linked to large crime networks or smaller coordinated networks. Reuters reported in July that Meta Platforms, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, had removed about 63,000 accounts in Nigeria that attempted to engage in sextortion schemes mostly aimed at adult men in the U.S.

Federal authorities have warned that sextortion schemes are a "growing threat preying upon our nation’s teens." From October 2021 to March 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Homeland Security Investigations received more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors.

According to the FBI, these schemes involved at least 12,600 victims, who were primarily boys, and resulted in at least 20 suicides.

If you or someone you know is or could be a victim of online sexual violence, including sextortion, organizations like the National Sexual Violence Resource Center are here to help survivors and their loved ones. Visit NSVRC.org for help and support.

If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.

By Thao Nguyen, USA Today 

Related story: How sextortion scammers in Nigeria targeted my son

Black Axe Mafia of Nigeria dealt a big blow by Interpol

Police units around the world have joined forces in a series of covert operations targeting one of West Africa’s most feared criminal networks - Black Axe.

Operation Jackal III saw officers in body armour carry out raids in 21 countries between April and July 2024.

The mission, co-ordinated by global policing agency Interpol, led to the arrest of 300 people with links to Black Axe and other affiliated groups.

Interpol called the operation a “major blow” to the Nigerian crime network, but warned that its international reach and technological sophistication mean it remains a global threat.

In one notorious example, Canadian authorities said they had busted a money-laundering scheme linked to Black Axe worth more than $5bn (£3.8bn) in 2017.

“They are very organised and very structured,” Tomonobu Kaya, a senior official at Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, told the BBC.

According to a 2022 report by Interpol, “Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud as well as many other serious crimes”.

Mr Kaya said innovations in money-transfer software and cryptocurrency have played into the hands of group, which are renowned for multi-million dollar online scams.

“These criminal syndicates are early adopters of new technologies… A lot of fintech developments make it really easy to illegally move money around the world,” he said.

Operation Jackal III was years in the making and led to the seizure of $3m of illegal assets and more than 700 bank accounts being frozen.

Many Black Axe members are university educated and are recruited during their schooling.

The organisation is a secretive criminal network with trafficking, prostitution and killing operations around the world.

Cyber-crime, targeting individuals and businesses, is the organisation's largest source of revenue.

Multiple so-called “Jackal” police operations have taken place since 2022.

Dozens of Black Axe and other gang members have been arrested and their electronic devices seized during these transnational raids. This work has enabled Interpol to create a vast intelligence database, which is now shared with officers throughout its 196 member countries.

“We need to have data and to collate our findings from these countries to help build a picture of their modus operandi,” said Mr Kaya.

Despite multiple international arrests, some experts feel not enough is being done to address the root of these crime syndicates in West Africa.

“The emphasis must actually be on prevention not on outright operations against these criminal groups,” said Dr Oluwole Ojewale, West Africa Regional Co-ordinator from the Institute for Security Studies.

Nigeria, which has witnessed widespread anti-corruption protests in recent weeks, is one of Africa’s largest economies, but has as many as 87 million people living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. It is also the main recruitment ground for Black Axe.

Interpol said it was carrying out training exercises with key Nigerian stakeholders and police officials. But corruption, and allegations of collusion between Black Axe and local authorities, remain major obstacles.

“It is the politicians who are actually arming these boys,” said Dr Ojewale. “The general failure of governance in the country has made pressures for people to be initiated [into Black Axe].”

Despite its current global reach, Interpol’s Jackal Operations have their origins in Ireland.

Following a series of police raids by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) in 2020, a handful of Black Axe members were arrested, paving the way for the exposure of a far wider network.

“They were very under the radar, very low-key,” said Michael Cryan, detective superintendent at the GNECB, which led the operation.

“The amount of money being laundered through Ireland was astronomical,” he added.

The police subsequently identified 1,000 people with links to Black Axe in Ireland and have made hundreds of arrests for fraud and cyber-crime.

“Bank robberies are now done with laptops - they’re far more sophisticated,” said Det Supt Cryan.

He estimates €200m ($220m; £170m) have been stolen online in Ireland in the past five years, and that only accounts for the 20% of cyber-crimes that are believed to be reported.

“This is not typical or ordinary crime… People who make decisions need to know how serious this is,” he said.

Irish police operations in November 2023 revealed that cryptocurrency - which can be sent rapidly between digital wallets around the world - is becoming an integral element in Black Axe’s money-laundering operations.

More than €1m in crypto-assets were seized during one operation.

Interpol has deployed its own new technology in an attempt to tackle these innovations, launching the Global Rapid Intervention of Payments system (I-GRIP).

The mechanism, which enables the authorities in member countries to freeze bank accounts around the world with unprecedented speed, was used to halt a $40m scam targeting a Singaporean business last month.

Interpol's Mr Kaya said technology like this would make it harder for criminals to move money across borders with impunity.

A major effort is under way to gather and share intelligence on Black Axe and other West African syndicates by police around the world.

“If we can gather this data we can take action,” he said.

By Charlie Northcott, BBC

Related story: Video - Italy’s Hunt for a Mysterious Nigerian Mafia

 

How escalating POS fraud is ruining many Nigerians

The Point of Sale (PoS) system, which is supposed to serve as a faster, safer and more efficient means of financial transactions for businesses, is increasingly becoming a nightmare for many Nigerians. This is largely due to its misuse by criminals to carry out illicit activities.

The rise and widespread adoption of PoS systems have also led to a surge in other crimes, including kidnapping and “One Chance”, as the convenience of these transactions makes it easier for criminals to operate without being easily traced.

PoS fraud usually happens when criminals exploit loop holes in the electronic payment systems used by businesses and consumers. This can involve card skimming, phishing schemes, data theft or even direct theft of funds through compromised terminals. With Nigeria’s rapidly expanding financial technology sector and the growing adoption of digital payments, the country has become a prime target for these fraudulent schemes.

The statistics paint a stark picture. Reports indicate a sharp increase in PoS fraud cases over the past few years. According to data from the Nigerian Cybercrime Unit, there was a 40% rise in reported POS fraud incidents between 2022 and 2023.

Similarly, recent reports by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), on Fraud and Forgeries in Nigerian Banks showed that PoS transactions experienced the highest increase in fraudulent activities in the first quarter of 2024. According to the report, PoS fraud cases swelled by 31.12% with over 3,518 reported cases.

Many of these cases involve sophisticated tactics that are difficult for the average consumer to detect until significant financial damage has already been done.

Helen Nnamani, a POS operator in Abuja, recounted how she lost a huge sum earlier in the year when her POS terminal was compromised, leading to unauthorised transactions that drained her business account.

She lamented that despite her efforts to contact her bank and the POS provider, the process of recovering her lost funds has been slow and fraught with frustration.

“I trusted the system, but now I feel betrayed. The bank says it is not their fault, and the POS company is unresponsive. My business is suffering because of the fraud,” she said.

Also, Samuel Adewale, a university student, had his card skimmed during a POS withdrawal at a market in Lagos. His bank account was nearly emptied before he could block it, and although he reported the incident immediately, the recovery process has been anything but swift.

“I went to the market on that very day in March and after purchasing everything I needed, I realised that the cash I had on me would not be enough to get me home. So, I decided to make a quick withdrawal from a random POS operator nearby.

“About thirty minutes after I left the market and was on my way home, I started receiving debit alerts for withdrawals I had not made. I tried to block my account, but the network was very poor.

“By the time I was finally able to block it, they had successfully withdrawn N150,000 from my bank account. I immediately returned to the market and searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find the POS operator.

“I reported to the bank but the recovery process has been very slow and bleak. I had to take a loan just to cover my immediate expenses while waiting for the bank to sort things out,” Samuel narrated.

To address this troubling trend, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has recently mandated that POS agents from major fintech companies in Nigeria, including OPay, Palmpay and Moniepoint, register their businesses by July 7, 2024.

The deadline has since been extended by an additional 60 days, giving operators until September 5, 2024, to comply.

According to the CAC, the registration initiative is designed to protect the interests of fintech businesses and their customers, while also bolstering the economy.

To further strengthen the war against the escalating problem of POS fraud, several experts have proposed a multi-faceted approach.

Zainab Abu, Head of Merchant Business at Nigerian Fintech Hydrogen, affirmed the widespread occurrence of POS fraud in Nigeria and noted that most POS terminals in the country use Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) chip cards instead of magnetic stripe cards, that make it harder to compromise card details. She suggested employing tamper-proof terminals that automatically erase data if tampering is detected.

The FinTech expert also recommended geofencing PoS terminals, which she explained, is a cybersecurity feature that sets virtual boundaries for devices.

Abu said if a device with this software feature leaves the environment it has been tagged to, a trigger is set off, alerting relevant parties. She noted, however, that this will require certain businesses to make adjustments to their business models or processes.

She further said that geofencing would help relevant authorities identify the specific regions or terminals responsible for PoS frauds, but pointed out that this technique is limited to only some sectors as it can not be applied to other areas that require mobility.

She noted that the strategy would be useless without adequate and responsive enforcement protocols.

“If you look at businesses in the transportation or logistics sector, this could have a negative impact because, from day one, you are not able to tell where your devices will end up. It would adversely affect their business models because people that want to pay on delivery are no longer able to pay because the POS has most likely left its geo-fenced location,” she added.

Abu also welcomed the recertification of PoS terminals, which she said will ensure the harmonisation of standards for all stakeholders.

“From a merchant perspective, it would ensure that merchants have quality devices, and that would in turn ensure that the customer experience is a good one because there might have been instances where terminals find their way into circulation without having the proper certification done,” she said.

But, she stated that with over 1.8 million POS terminals in the country, completing the proposed six-month recertification process might be challenging. However, she added that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) could achieve it if the necessary arrangements are made.

Financial consultant, Michael Nduka, highlighted the importance of consumer awareness. “Consumers need to be educated about the risks and signs of fraud. Simple measures, like regularly monitoring bank statements and using secure networks, can make a significant difference,” he said.

According to Chuka Nwosu, a technology policy analyst, collaboration between banks, POS providers, and regulatory bodies is crucial. According to him, “we need a unified approach to address the vulnerabilities in the payment system. This includes sharing information about threats and coordinating responses.”

Legal expert, Idris Amoo, advocates for more stringent regulations and enforcement, saying: “The regulatory bodies should ensure that POS providers adhere to strict security standards and hold them accountable for breaches.”

Former National President of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents of Nigeria (AMMBAN), Olojo Victor, stated that illegal POS agents have infiltrated the system and the association is working diligently to identify and remove these problematic actors.

Olojo said that there have been customer complaints about fraud occurring at agents’ points, with many incidents involving cardless withdrawals using pay codes.

A pay code is a 10 to 14-digit number used for withdrawing cash from an ATM or making payments at a paycode-enabled POS terminal. It is generated through a bank’s Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code or mobile app.

Olojo explained: “A number of factors are involved in PoS fraud with agents. First, it depends on what kind of withdrawal was made with the PoS agent.

“There are also cases of people stealing SIM cards and using bank short codes to withdraw customers’ funds. That is possible.”

He confirmed that, in cases of compromise, there is a possibility that agents could gain access to customers’ bank details.

“The possibility is just a case of compromise. It is either the customer has told the agent her personal PIN number or there is a compromise in terms of the details of the card.

“For instance, if a customer gives out to the agent those numbers written in the front of the card and the details at the back of the card, when a customer goes, the customer can do a transaction online using those details.

“We always advise customers not to divulge their bank details to anyone. When you carry out agent transactions ensure that you do not reveal your PIN to him. Do not drop your ATM card with him.

“Also ensure that your SIM card is not compromised because these days many SIM cards are tied to bank accounts. Fraudsters can easily load cards or make withdrawals from your bank account through SIM cards,” he warned.

By Adanna Nnamani, The Sun

Italy’s Hunt for a Mysterious Nigerian Mafia

The Green Bible is the single-most important document in the Italian government’s war against an alleged Nigerian mafia. Bloomberg Investigates reveals how this handbook isn’t what it claims to be, but that hasn’t kept innocent people out of prison.

Bloomberg 

Related story: Video - The Fall of the World's Flashiest Scammer Hushpuppi

 

How sextortion scammers in Nigeria targeted my son

Sextortion is the fastest-growing scam affecting teenagers globally and has been linked to more than 27 suicides in the US alone. Many of the scammers appear to be from Nigeria - where authorities are under pressure to do more.

It has been two years since Jenn Buta’s son Jordan killed himself after being targeted by scammers who lured him into sending them explicit images of himself, and then tried to blackmail him.

She still can’t bring herself to change anything about his bedroom.

The 17-year-old’s basketball jerseys, clothes, posters and bedsheets are just how he left them.

The curtains are closed, and the door is shut to keep memories of him that only a parent would understand.

“It still smells like him. That’s one of the reasons I still have the door closed. I can still smell that sweat, dirt, cologne mix in this room. I'm just not ready to part with his stuff,” she said.

Jordan was contacted by sextortion scammers on Instagram.

They pretended to be a pretty girl his age and flirted with him, sending sexual pictures to coax him into sharing explicit photos of himself.

They then blackmailed him for hundreds of pounds to stop them sharing the pictures online to his friends.

Jordan sent as much money as he could and warned the sextortionists he would kill himself if they spread the images. The criminals replied: “Good… Do that fast - or I'll make you do it.”

It was less than six hours from the time Jordan started communicating until the time he killed himself.

“There's actually a script online,” Jenn told BBC News, from her home in Michigan, in the north of the US. "And these people are just going through the script and putting that pressure on.

"And they're doing it quick, because then they can move on to the next person, because it's about volume.”

The criminals were tracked to Nigeria, arrested, and then extradited to the US.

Two brothers from Lagos - Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and Samson Ogoshi, 20 - are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to child sexploitation charges. Another Nigerian man linked to Jordan’s death and other cases is fighting extradition.

Jordan’s tragic story has become a touch point in the fight against the growing problem of sextortion.

Jenn is a now high-profile campaigner on TikTok – using the account Jordan set up for her – to raise awareness about the dangers of sextortion to young people. Her videos have been liked more than a million times.

It’s feared that sextortion is under-reported due to its sensitive nature. But US crime figures show cases more than doubled last year, rising to 26,700, with at least 27 boys having killed themselves in the past two years.

Researchers and law enforcement agencies point to West Africa, and particularly Nigeria, as a hotspot for where attackers are based.

In April, two Nigerian men were arrested after a schoolboy from Australia killed himself. Two other men are on trial in Lagos, after the suicides of a 15-year-old boy in the US and a 14-year-old in Canada.

In January, US cyber-company Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) highlighted a web of Nigerian TikTok, YouTube and Scribd accounts sharing tips and scripts for sextortion. Many of the discussions and videos are in Nigerian Pidgin dialect.

It’s not the first time that Nigeria’s young tech-savvy population has embraced a new wave of cyber-crime.

The term Yahoo Boys is used to describe a portion of the population that use cyber-crime to earn a living. It comes from the early 2000s wave of Nigerian Prince scam emails which spread through the Yahoo email service.

Dr Tombari Sibe, from Digital Footprints Nigeria, says cyber-fraud such as sextortion has become normalised to young people in the country: “There's also the big problem of unemployment and of poverty.

"All these young ones who don't really have much - it's become almost like a mainstream activity where they don't really think too much about the consequences. They just see their colleagues making money.”

African human rights charity Devatop has said the current methods of handling sextortion in Nigeria have failed to effectively curb the practice. And a report from NCRI said that celebrating sextortion crimes are an established part of the internet subculture in the country.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the director of Nigeria’s National Cyber Crime Centre (NCCC) defended his police force’s actions, and insisted it was working hard to catch criminals and deter others from carrying out attacks.

Uche Ifeanyi Henry said his officers were “hitting criminals hard” and said it is “laughable” that anyone should accuse Nigeria of not taking sextortion crime seriously.

“We are giving criminals a very serious hit. A lot have been prosecuted and a lot have been arrested,” he said. "Many of these criminals are moving to neighbouring countries now because of our activity.”

The NCCC director pointed to the fact that the government has spent millions of pounds on a state-of-the-art cyber-crime centre, to show it was taking cyber-crime seriously, especially sextortion.

He said Nigerian teenagers are also being targeted, and he argued that the criminals were not just a Nigerian problem, with other sextortionists in south-east Asia. Tackling them would require global support, he said.

With that in mind, the director and his technical team are this week visiting the UK’s National Crime Agency, which last month issued a warning to children and schools about a rise in sextortion cases.

The visit is designed to improve collaboration on sextortion and other cyber-crime investigations. It follows similar recent meetings with Japanese police.

Meanwhile, Jenn Buta continues to campaign alongside Jordan’s father John DeMay. They regularly give advice to young people who may become victims.

Advice that Jenn and many law enforcement agencies regularly give people targeted by sextortionists includes:

. Remember you are not alone and this is not your fault

. Report the predator’s account, via the platform’s safety feature

. Block the predator from contacting you

. Save the profile or messages - they can help law enforcement identify and stop the predator

. Ask for help from a trusted adult or law enforcement before sending money or more images

. Co-operating with the predator rarely stops the blackmail and harassment - but law enforcement can

By Joe Tidy, BBC

Related story: Two arrested in Nigeria for sextortion after Australian boy's suicide

‘Nigerian scammer’ takes credit for bizarre Graceland auction scare

A self-described scammer based in Nigeria has taken credit for a bizarre, failed attempt to auction off Elvis’ iconic Graceland property.

Earlier this month, a mysterious company with little paper trail, Naussany Investments and Private Lending, contacted Promenade Trust, which controls the Memphis estate, claiming it owed millions for failing to repay a loan.

Riley Keough, Elvis’ granddaughter who inherited Graceland after her mother Lisa Marie Presley died last year, sued Naussany alleging its documents were falsified. She also asked a judge to block the Graceland auction. The judge granted her request, putting a pause on the sale, one day before it was set to be finalized.


On Tuesday, the apparent perpertrator of the scheme was revealed when The New York Times reported that an individual based in Nigeria with a Naussany-associated email address contacted them and took credit for it.

The individual said he and his associates typically scam the vulnerable and elderly. The Times also reported that the email was written in Luganda, a language spoken in Uganda. “We figure out how to steal,” the individual told The Times. “That’s what we do.”

Experts also told the Associated Press that scammers often target people’s assets after they’re dead. “It’s very difficult for someone to say, ‘Well, no, I didn’t take out this loan, I didn’t sign these papers,’ when they’re dead,” Mark Sunderman, a University of Memphis real estate professor, told the AP.

The Independent was unable to verify specific details about Naussany Investments and Private Lending due to a lack of public records and unreliable contact information listed online.

No representative for the company appeared at a recent hearing over Graceland, however Naussany filed court papers denying Ms Keough’s allegations and asked the judge for more time to prepare a defense in the case, the Times reports.

Nikos Passas, a Northeastern University criminology and criminal justice professor, also told the AP the scammers likely knew that successfully auctioning off Graceland was impossible.

“The chance of succeeding in what they were trying to do — that is, to get the property auctioned off and get the proceeds and then use the money — doesn’t seem to be the actual intent, unless they are incredibly stupid,” Dr Passas said. “So, the question is then, ‘What was the intent, and who was behind it?’”

By Katie Hawkinson, Independent

Related story: Two arrested in Nigeria for sextortion after Australian boy's suicide

Two arrested in Nigeria for sextortion after Australian boy's suicide

Two people have been arrested in Nigeria over an alleged sextortion attempt against an Australian schoolboy who took his own life.

Australian police say the teenage victim had traded explicit images with a person online before they began making threats and demanding money.

After a global investigation, the pair allegedly responsible were tracked down in Nigeria, where they will face court.

Police say sextortion - particularly of young people - is dramatically rising.

Details of the boy's age or where he lived in New South Wales (NSW) have not been released publicly to protect his family's privacy.

New South Wales Police described the alleged extortionists as "young males" and said they had threatened to send photos to the teenager's friends and family if he did not pay them A$500 (£260; $330).

"The messages are horrific. They're aggressive and put a lot of pressure on the boy to pay the money," the police force's cyber-crime commander, Matthew Craft, told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).

The boy died by suicide on the same evening, late last year.

Australian detectives worked with their counterparts in South Africa and Nigeria to trace the suspected perpetrators to a slum in Nigeria with a population of over 25 million people.

Evidence that the pair had also tried to extort other people was found on their phones, according to the SMH. They have been charged over the alleged extortion of the Australian boy, but not his death.

There have been several cases in Canada and the US in recent years of teenagers who have killed themselves after being targeted by sextortion plots.

Det Supt Craft said his team had seen a "huge spike" in sextortion cases and has appealed for anyone targeted to contact police.

"[They] are up nearly 400% in the last 18 months," he said in a statement.

"We want young people to continue to report these cases, and to never be embarrassed to talk to police.

"Sextortion is a very real crime... These arrests in Nigeria show just how far police are willing to go to seek justice on behalf of our young community."

By Tiffanie Turnbull, BBC

Related stories: Government of Nigeria asks Interpol to place three Nigerians on watchlist over Buhari's signature forgery

Hushpuppi sentenced to 11 years in US

Government of Nigeria asks Interpol to place three Nigerians on watchlist over Buhari's signature forgery

The special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu has requested the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to add three suspects to its watchlist for their alleged involvement in a $6,230,000 fraud.

The individuals in question are Adamu Abubakar, Imam Abubakar, and Odoh Eric Ocheme.

The federal government has filed extradition charges against the trio for allegedly forging the signature of former President Muhammadu Buhari and documents attributed to Boss Mustapha, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

These documents were purportedly used to facilitate the payment of $6,230,000 from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), ostensibly intended for foreign election observers, The Cable reported.

On February 12, 2024, the special investigator wrote a letter requesting Interpol to issue a red notice for the three suspects.

The letter reads:

“In the course of the Special Investigator’s assignment, Mr. Odoh Eric Ocheme, (a staff of the CBN) now at large and the other two accomplices, also now at large, were discovered to have conspired and forged documents in the name of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria with which they stole about US$6,230,000 (Six Million, Two Hundred and Thirty Thousand Dollars, in cash, from the coffers of the CBN.”

On January 18, 2024, Judge Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a warrant of arrest against the three suspects.

Former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele is also implicated in the alleged fraudulent payment of $6,230,000.

Mustapha stated on Tuesday that neither he nor former President Muhammadu Buhari authorized the disbursement of $6,230,000 to international election observers.

Mustapha testified as the second prosecution witness in the trial of Emefiele.

By Adekunle Agbetiloye, Business Insider Africa

Related stories: British-Nigerian hacker pleads guilty to $6m fraud in US court

Video - The Fall of the World's Flashiest Scammer Hushpuppi

Nigerian athlete Ashe arrested in America, to face theft and fraud charges

Nigerian athlete Favour Ashe was arrested on Thursday at his base in Alabama over multiple counts of theft and fraud, as stated by the Auburn Police and published by a Columbus-based media outlet (WTVM).

Favour, 21, who represented Nigeria at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he won a bronze medal alongside three other Nigerians in the 4×100m relay, recently transferred from the University of Tennessee to Auburn University, Alabama, whom he has been representing in the NCAA.

However, Ashe has been charged with four counts of fraudulent use of a debit/credit card and two counts of theft of property, third degree,” as stated by the media outlet.

In the police statement, it was stated that the victim of Ashe’s robbery at the 100 block of West Magnolia Avenue gave them the theft report on 4 February. Ashe allegedly amplified the offences by using the stolen cards for fraudulent transactions.

The authorities issued a $9,000 bond to Ashe and are currently holding him at the Lee County Jail.

According to Boldsports, Ashe is not the first Nigerian athlete to be arrested in recent times, as five other Nigerian athletes also faced similar issues in 2022.

BoldSports reported how five Nigerian athletes, Toluwani Adebakin, Emmanuel Ineh, reigning African Games 100m champion Raymond Ekevwo, Mercy Abire, and Aniekeme Etim, were indicted and charged with wire and mail fraud in the US.

Adebakin and Ineh had earlier both been convicted of fraud and faced a possible 10-year jail term after they pleaded guilty to “violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957, for engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activities, collectively sending tens of thousands of illicitly obtained proceeds to fraudsters in Nigeria as part of a larger mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.”

Abire went on to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and risks 20 years in jail.

By Oluwaferanmi Omoniyi, Premium Times

British-Nigerian hacker pleads guilty to $6m fraud in US court

A British-Nigerian man has confessed in a US court to defrauding and stealing more than $6m (£4.7m) over seven years.

Idris Dayo Mustapha, 33, was part of a hacking ring that infiltrated email and brokerage accounts of US firms between 2011 and 2018, causing losses worth $6m (£4.7m), officials said.

A dual national of the UK and Nigeria, Mustapha was extradited from the UK in August, two years after his arrest.

His crimes carry a jail term of up to 20 years.

He has not yet been sentenced.

Mustapha pleaded guilty plea at a court in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday to four charges: computer intrusion, securities fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud.

Authorities say Mustapha and his ring hacked into the computer servers of financial institutions in the US to access confidential user data, such as users' personal identifying information.

They then used the stolen information and passwords to wire funds and transfer securities from the accounts of their victims to accounts under their control.

They also used the hacked accounts to conduct stock trades without the knowledge of the account holder.

US authorities had been pursuing Mustapha for several years.

By Gloria Aradi, Reuters

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Video - Joe Rogan and Zuby talk about scammers from Nigeria

 

Hushpuppi sentenced to 11 years in US

A notorious Instagram influencer from Nigeria has been jailed for more than 11 years in the US for his role in an international fraud syndicate.

Hushpuppi, whose real name is Ramon Abbas, was also ordered to pay $1,732,841 (£1,516,182) in restitution to two victims.

The influencer rose to fame flaunting his wealthy lifestyle on his page, which boasted 2.8 million followers.

But it all came crashing down when he was arrested in Dubai two years ago.

According to Don Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, Abbas had - behind the glitz of his account - become "one of the most prolific money launderers in the world".

"Abbas leveraged his social media platforms... to gain notoriety and to brag about the immense wealth he acquired by conducting business email compromise scams, online bank heists and other cyber-enabled fraud that financially ruined scores of victims and provided assistance to the North Korean regime," Mr Alway said in a court document on Monday.

Abbas pleaded guilty to money laundering last year, admitting attempting to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new children's school in Qatar. Court documents in California say he played a key role in the scheme, playing "the roles of bank officials and creating a bogus website".

He also admitted to "several other cyber and business email compromise schemes that cumulatively caused more than $24 million in losses", the US justice department said.

Among them was a 2019 scheme, which plunged the European island of Malta into chaos as payment systems shut down after he tried to launder €13m ($13m) stolen by a gang of North Korean hackers from the Maltese Bank of Valletta.

At one point on Instagram, Abbas said he was a real estate developer and had a category of videos called "Flexing" - social media lingo for showing off.

In 2020, he renewed his lease for another year at the exclusive Palazzo Versace apartments in Dubai under his real name and phone number.

"Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings in my life. Continue to shame those waiting for me to be shamed," he captioned an Instagram picture of a Rolls-Royce just a fortnight before he was arrested.

Those who knew Lagos-born Abbas before his transformation into Hushpuppi allege these are not the first scams he has carried out.

He allegedly started his fraudulent lifestyle as a "Yahoo boy" - the Nigerian term for men who commit romance fraud by stealing other people's identities online and swindling their none-the-wiser lovers out of money.

A Lagos driver called Saye told the BBC back in 2021 that he developed a taste for the finer things in life - but was always "generous".

"He used to buy beer for everyone around," he said.

However, Abbas' supporters say he is a changed man.

According to Nigerian newspaper Permium Times, two imams wrote to the judge in Los Angeles appealing for leniency, saying he regularly helped out widows and orphans, as well as donating to things like feeding programmes.

Meanwhile, his wife said his arrest had plunged her into hardship - noting that she had to overtime in order to pay for their child's private education.

Abbas himself apologised for his crimes to Judge Otis D Wright in a handwritten note, saying he would use his personal funds to pay back his victims. He also said he had only made $300,000 from the crime he was being tried for.

However, he was still sentenced to 135 months in a federal prison.

BBC

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Interpol confirms arrest of suspected Nigerian cyber criminal in South Africa

A 28-year-old Nigerian has been arrested in relation to a cybercrime ring involved in phishing, internet, romance scams and money laundering.

The suspect, identified as James Junior Aliyu was arrested at an upmarket estate in Sandton, Johannesburg, after a takedown operation.

Members from the Interpol National Crime Bureau (NCB) in Pretoria with assistance from members of the SAPS Gauteng Highway Patrol Unit raided the upmarket estate at 10:00 on Wednesday, 29 June 2022, where they effected the arrest.

His arrest follows a widespread investigation involving law enforcement authorities from South Africa (SA) and the United States of America (USA).

Confirming his arrest, INTERPOL on its verified Twitter page wrote: ” Last week @SAPoliceService detained a suspected Nigerian cybercriminal allegedly involved in phishing, Internet scamming and MoneyLaundering INTERPOL’s newly-launched Financial Crime centre IFCACC is already following up on intelligence received during the arrest.”

Aliyu is accused of swindling dozens of US citizens millions in USD through email and text messages.

It was reported that Authorities in the USA, where the investigation originated have applied for his extradition.

The suspect’s case will be heard at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on 05 July 2022.

By Fikayo Olowolagba

Related stories: Video - The Fall of the World's Flashiest Scammer Hushpuppi

The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image

Video - The Fall of the World's Flashiest Scammer Hushpuppi

Ramon Abbas perfected a simple internet scam that helped him launder millions of dollars, riches he shamelessly flaunted on Instagram. Better known as @Hushpuppi, the young Nigerian became a fixture among the global elite as fashion houses showered him with gifts. But his fame would ultimately be his downfall.

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Nigeria suspends 'Hushpuppi-linked' police officer Abba Kyari 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Arrest Warrant Exposes Police Scandal in Nigeria

The charismatic head of the Intelligence Response team of the Nigeria Police Service, Abba Kyari, has been suspended pending the investigation of allegations by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he was in cahoots with Ramon Abbas, better known as “Hushpuppi“ a Nigerian “Yahoo boy,” a popular Nigerian term for cyber criminals, involved in money laundering and fraud.

Abbas was arrested in Dubai last year, and after being expelled from the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—not extradited—he arrived in the United States to face trial. After pleading guilty as part of a plea bargain, Abbas was sentenced by a Los Angeles court to a maximum of twenty years in prison for “conspiracy to engage in money laundering.” Abbas allegedly paid Kyari N8 million (about $20,000) to arrest and jail a rogue member of Abbas’ criminal group; those allegations are currently being investigated by the Nigerian police. A U.S. district court issued a warrant for Kyari’s arrest, but American authorities have not requested his extradition, though much of the Nigerian media expects that they will do so.

Like many of his U.S. mafia forerunners, Abbas advertised a flamboyant lifestyle, featuring photographs of him lounging about a fleet of Rolls Royce cars and a private plane. He became something of a folk hero among the poor, with some 2.5 million Instagram followers. Operating over the internet, his victims—he is known to have targeted a U.S. law firm, a foreign bank, an English Premier League soccer club, and a Qatari school—would appear to have been mostly non-Nigerian.

Perhaps because of Hushpuppi’s flamboyance and Abba Kyari’s charisma and reputation for rectitude, the episode has become a media sensation and is seen as further damaging Nigeria’s international reputation. Some commentators, however, see a silver lining: a senior police official is being investigated and has been suspended, rather than the usual official cover-up.

Whatever Nigeria’s reputation, that of the police is poor, both at home and abroad. Among Nigerians, the police are a byword for corruption—grand and petty—and harassment, especially of the poor. Anti-police sentiment boiled over late last year in protests against the notoriously brutal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)—for which Kyari formerly served as the officer-in-charge—collectively known as #EndSARS. The Buhari administration has promised police reform, of which there has been little evidence. However, the investigation of Abba Kyari could be a hopeful sign.

It should be noted that Abba Kyari of the National Police is not to be confused with Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Buhari until his death last year from COVID-19.

CFR

Related stories: Nigeria suspends 'Hushpuppi-linked' police officer Abba Kyari

The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image 

Nigeria suspends 'Hushpuppi-linked' police officer Abba Kyari

 

Nigeria has suspended one of its most highly respected police officers after he was indicted in the US on money laundering charges.

Deputy commissioner Abba Kyari is accused of taking bribes from Nigerian Instagram celebrity Ray Hushpuppi, who has pleaded guilty to money laundering in the US.

Mr Kyari has denied the allegations.

The allegations shocked many Nigerians as he was known as a "super cop" who went after criminals.

Court documents filed in California said the 37-year-old Hushpuppi's crimes cost victims almost $24m (£17m).

Hushpuppi, whose real name is Ramon Abbas, posed as real estate developer in Dubai and posted photos of his lavish lifestyle on Instagram, where he had 2.5m followers.

He was charged in the US following his extradition from Dubai last year.

Kristi Johnson, acting director of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said Hushpuppi was one of the "most high-profile money launderers in the world".

His "celebrity status and ability to make connections seeped into legitimate organisations and led to several spin-off schemes in the US and abroad", she said.

In a statement last week, US officials said that Hushpuppi had alleged in an affidavit that he got Mr Kyari to arrest a syndicate member with whom he had fallen out.

Mr Kyari allegedly sent Hushpuppi details of a bank account in which he could deposit payment for the arrest, the statement said.

Nigeria's Police Service Commission - which is in charge of disciplining officers - said Mr Kyari would remain suspended pending the outcome of investigations.

Mr Kyari described the allegations as ''false'' and said his "hands are clean''.

The allegations against Mr Kyari has caused huge controversy in Nigeria - some people believe them while others say he has been set up.

It is unclear whether he will be extradited to the US to stand trial.

Hushpuppi could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

In one scheme, he attempted to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new children's school in Qatar, the documents said.

Court records unsealed last week said he pleaded guilty to this charge on 20 April.

By Ishaq Khalid 

BBC 

Related story: The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image

Nigerian men arrested over German PPE 'scam

 Two Nigerian men have been arrested for allegedly scamming a German state that tried to buy 2.3m euros (£2m) of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Nigerian police say they cloned the website of a Dutch company to obtain an order from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

When the PPE didn't show up, a state government representative visited the company's offices in the Netherlands.

The company then informed him that they had never done business with him.

The representative notified the Dutch police and investigations led to Nigeria where the two suspects were arrested in the commercial capital, Lagos. They are due to appear in court soon.

The suspects, Babatunde Adesanya and Akinpelu Hassan Abass, were members of a "sophisticated transnational criminal network", Nigerian police said in a statement.

The pair allegedly cloned the corporate website of ILBN Holdings BV in order to carry out the scam on Freiherr Fredrick Von Hahn, who represented North Rhine-Westphalia. The PPE was needed for the battle against coronavirus.

Two more arrests have also been made in the Netherlands.

According to Nigerian police, Mr Von Hahn was "disturbed" when the PPE did not arrive, only to find out that "the company never did business with him and that the transaction was a scam".

BBC

Nigerian man, 50, extradited from Canada to face U.S. fraud charges for alleged sweepstakes scam

A Nigerian citizen living in Canada was extradited to the United States on Thursday to face federal charges after allegedly taking part in a scheme to defraud thousands of victims of hundreds of millions of dollars.

American investigators allege the 50-year-old man was part of a conspiracy to run a fraudulent "sweepstakes" scheme designed to steal a total of $300 million U.S. The alleged fraudsters were able to defraud their victims of a total of $900,000 U.S.

A federal grand jury indictment, returned in September 2018, charges the man with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Each count upon conviction calls for up to 20 years in federal prison.

According to the indictment, the defendants carried out their sweepstakes scheme from 2012 to 2016.

Elderly victims targeted

The man allegedly purchased lists of elderly potential victims and their addresses from an email service provider. He and other conspirators based in the Toronto area, sent packages containing fraudulent sweepstakes information to conspirators living in the U.S.

The packages contained thousands of mailers, which the U.S.-based conspirators sent to victims notifying them that they had won a sweepstakes contest.

Each mailer included a fraudulent cheque issued in the name of the victim, usually in the amount of $8,000, and a pre-addressed envelope.

Victims were instructed to deposit the cheque into their bank account, immediately withdraw between $5,000 and $7,000 dollars in cash or money orders and send the money to a "sweepstakes representative" to facilitate the victim collecting his or her prize.

By the time the victim was notified by the bank that the deposited cheque was fraudulent, the cash or money order had been sent by the victim and received by alleged conspirators.

The man, who remains in federal custody pending his initial appearance in Austin, Texas Friday afternoon, is one of eight defendants charged in connection with this scheme.

Despite the fact that the man was living in Canada, U.S. special agents were able to track him down — something they attribute to their strong relationships with international law enforcement agencies.

CBC

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The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image

Police rescues American lady locked in Lagos hotel after fake marriage, arrests Nigerian

Nigeria Police operatives have rescued an American lady confined in a Lagos hotel where she was held against her wish for over a year.

Force spokesman, Frank Mba, made this known in a statement on Sunday.

The victim, from Washington DC, is a retired civil servant in the United States.

She arrived Nigeria on 13th February, 2019 on a visit to a Nigerian, Chukwuebuka Kasi Obiaku.

The 34-year-old is a native of Ikeduru LGA of Imo State. The duo met on Facebook.

The victim was freed by agents attached to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Ogun State annex.

The operation followed information received from a Nigerian in the Meiran area of Lagos State.

The Police described Obiaku, a graduate of Business Administration and Management, as an internet fraudster who has defrauded many both locally and internationally.

He lured the American to Nigeria under the pretext of love and deceitfully married her on 15th May, 2019.

The suspect subsequently held her captive in a hotel and extorted a total of $48,000.

Obiaku also forcefully took control of her credit and debit cards and operated her bank accounts, including the receipt of her monthly retirement benefits and allowances.

This went on for a period of fifteen months.

Obiaku also used the victim as a front to defraud her associates and other foreign personalities and companies.

He will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation and prosecuted in line with the Cybercrime Prevention/Prohibition Act, 2015.

By Wale Odunsi
Daily Post

The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image

The arrests of Ramoni Igbadole Abbas, commonly known as Hushpuppi; Jacob Ponle, known as Woodberry; and ten others last month by the expert combination of the FBI, INTERPOL, and the Dubai police in the United Arab Emirates has reopened the unpleasant conversation about international cybercrimes. It has equally re-centered the issue of Nigeria’s image vis-à-vis crime and the most populous African nation’s citizens.

According to official news sources, at the time of the 38-year-old’s arrest, Hushpuppi had victimised over 1.9 million people, 21 laptop computers, 15 memory storage devices, 5 hard drives, 47 smartphones, and 15 flash drives. Investigators announced that he, alongside his aids, defrauded people up to the tune of $435,611,200 (N169.01 billion) based on documents recovered to indicate fraudulence “on a global scale.” Did I mention that he was the owner of 13 luxury cars worth up to $6,806,425 (N2.640 billion) too?

It is erroneous to assume that Hushpuppi’s case is isolated. The pattern and frequency prove otherwise; they show that the menace is not only endemic, but extensive. Last year, much-celebrated Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 2016 honoree and chairman of Invictus Group, Obinwanne Okeke was arrested and recently pleaded guilty to FBI charges for $11 million (N4.2 billion) internet fraud facing up to 20 years imprisonment sentence; in August 2019, the FBI released a list of 80 wanted Nigerian cybercriminals for an alleged $6 million cybercrime noting that “the overall conspiracy was responsible for the attempted theft of at least $40 million,” while arresting two co-conspirators: Valentine Iro and Chukwudi Christogunus Igbokwe; 6 Nigerian nationals—Richard Izuchukwu Uzuh; Alex Afolabi Ogunshakin; Felix Osilama Okpoh; Abiola Ayorinde Kayode; Nnamdi Orson Benson; and Michael Olorunyomi—are currently on the FBI’s “Cyber’s Most Wanted” list for defrauding “over 70 different businesses in the US with a combined loss of over $6,000,000” according to its official twitter account.

Underlying all these cases is a certain measure of self-indulgence which seeks to exploit the efforts of innocent victims, capitalising on codified methods of cybercriminality frowned upon by international laws, and counterproductive to the image-building goals of Nigeria. Acts such as phishing, engaging in Business Email Compromise (BEC), ransomware, banking malware and other widely recognised cyberthreats have been at the forefront of their activities.

Following Hushpuppi’s arrest, social media platforms began witnessing a sense of distancing. But unlike the social distancing globally induced by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), we became accustomed to social media distancing initiated by those who had once dined with the overtly brash Hushpuppi. More importantly though, the often-repeated lines of denunciation by Nigerian public officials greeted our airwaves as expected. The central message was the same as always: ALL Nigerians should not be lumped into the soiled perception of fraudulence, uncharacteristically championed by most recently arrested infamous nationals like Hushpuppi, Obinwanne, Mompha and their ilk.

“This is really denting to our image as a people, but like I always say, fraud does not represent who we are as Nigerians. Hardworking. dedicated. committed,” the Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa retweeted to a tweet detailing Hushpuppi’s fraudulent acts on June 25, 2020. Public relations messages like the one by Hon. Dabiri-Erewa are, perhaps, important in the fight to redeem Nigeria’s already battered image—somewhat reminiscent of the late Information Minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili’s campaign: “Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation.” However, they reek of gross unexamined self-reflection in many forms. And I will highlight some.

First, at face value, these cybercrimes committed by Nigerian nationals portray a certain get-rich-quick syndrome which has become a deified, noticeable trend mostly exhibited—to varying degrees—across social media platforms. Exotic cars are flaunted, designer wears rocked, glittering accessories are customary looks across verified pages and profiles, as if to separate those that have “made it” from those trying to stay as legitimate and clean as the strength of their manhood and the integrity of their professional crafts entail. That these self-acclaimed “made men” have millions of followers on their social media accounts portrays the alternate universe we live in, where the disenfranchised see them as role models to aspire to become. Yet, there is a profound truth to be gleaned from this aforementioned syndrome.

On deeper observation, it epitomises the present spirit of Nigeria’s younger generation. In terms of age structure according to the 2019 CIA World Factbook, Nigeria’s “early working age” and “mature working age” boast a population pyramid combination of 15-24 years (19.81%) and 25-54 years (30.44%). That equals a combined 50.25%. To put it differently, a 2020 pew research notes that only 5% of Nigeria’s population is 60 or older with a median age of just 18. In other words, 95% (or 195,700.000) of Nigeria’s 206 million population is under the age of 60—a rather astronomical figure that has been failed by the Nigerian experiment with no hope in sight.

The loss of hope in a nonexistent socioeconomic structure is a direct indictment of Nigeria. As Chinua Achebe aptly quips, it is a reiteration of “a failure of leadership.” Admittedly, this does not cloak the blame due these few fraudulent Nigerian nationals. Integrity is an intrinsic, conscious value to be continually upheld as a self-guide by every individual regardless of external forces of failure. To blame the vices of evil without highlighting the deepening failures of governance across all dynamics though, is to be selective about the realities of our normative socioeconomic and political truth.

Secondly, that the indictments of these cyber-criminals have been executed by such international law enforcement bodies like the FBI, INTERPOL, and the Dubai Police Force, reiterates our perceived views about the interests and mandates of the anti-graft commission. It exposes the failures of Nigeria’s national anti-crime agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), again, making a mockery of the nation’s image as one only interested in selectively fighting against crime.

Since the Commission’s creation in 2004 to “prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalise economic and financial crimes and is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of other laws and regulations relating to economic and financial crimes,” its results have been, to put it bluntly, abysmal. In May 2018, the EFCC’s Head, Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren claimed that the Commission had, within three years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, secured 603 convictions: 103, 195, and 189 for 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively. He also claimed that the Commission had recovered about 500 billion naira in Nigeria’s embezzled commonwealth. Fast-forward to this year’s Democracy Day, June 11, while speaking at a press conference, the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu noted thus: “Our scorecard in the area of conviction is 2,240 in the last five years and we recovered assets in excess of N980 billion, with quite a large array of non-monetary assets.”

As at the time of writing this piece, Ibrahim Magu has been arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Juxtaposing these “recovered” stolen funds with the 2018 Brooking Institution report that every minute, six people in Nigeria fall into extreme poverty—defined by the United Nations to mean those who earn $1.90 (a meagre N760) or less daily—is a tough task. In the same year, Nigeria would become the “poverty capital of the world” overtaking India—a nation with more than six times its population size—and is set to remain so for the next generation. That we have reportedly recovered N980 billion ($2,529,977,800.00) under the present administration by the EFCC alone, even as Nigerian fall into extreme poverty, is almost unimaginable. There have also been allegations of Magu “relooting the loots”—a codified notion that the recovered funds have been used for personal gains instead of being reimbursed into the coffers of Nigeria’s commonwealth.

Supposing we even ignore these random convictions and focus on the assumed big fishes as my curiosity suggested during the writing of this piece, my inquiry into the most sensitive cases betrayed hope as well. Of all 43 cases termed “high profile cases being prosecuted by the EFCC” as shown here with the earliest dated 2007, only four (a measly 9.30%) of the cases have been “dismissed.” A massive 39 of the cases (90.7%) are still “ongoing” or have “commenced” including those on “interlocutory appeal at the Supreme Court.” The perception is thus that Nigeria’s anti-crime agencies are mere watchdogs for political witch-hunting, readily available and only potent against targeted individuals and organisations.

This endemic betrayal of trust in the Nigerian system and the astronomical surge in cybercrimes by its nationals, have come at a grave cost to Nigeria’s international image. 419—the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code—is now an emblem of our economic and financial realities. Cybercrime is now an automatic indictment of both the average Nigerian and Nigeria’s character, just as our comatose international image lies critically at the selective mercy of western propaganda. It has equally fostered an unconscious guilt we have to bear across all international institutions as Nigerians. And its implications have been even more damaging: our emails are rejected; our notices for denial are stamped with imperialist prejudice; our visa applications—whether for tourism, work, or studies—are denied with reckless abandon; our green international passports are treated with utter disdain. We are judged based on our perceived unscrupulousness than on the merits of our individual characters. And even when meritorious acts are associated with the Nigerian nationality, there is the preconceived idea that an ill must have contributed to the outcome. Through it all, no iota of success or failure of the Nigerian is without the asterisk of potential criminality.

Thankfully, international anti-crime agencies have been successful in fishing out these hoodlums and charging them appropriately. However, what does not fall under the jurisdiction of INTERPOL, FBI, or any other anti-crime agency is the urgent need to redeem Nigeria’s image. To do this, is to reexamine the erroneous one-way-street perception of criminal acts, which is to call out the failures of both the leaders and the led. To do this, is to admit the failed Nigerian socio-economic and political systems, and to rebuild them on the foundations of integrity, transparency, truth, and justice. Until we do so, the Hushpuppis and Obinwannes of our existence will continue to dent our collective image with their cybercriminal acts. Until we do so, others will continue to look up to these criminals as role models and answers to the questions Nigeria fails to address.

Eleanya Ndukwe Jr. is a sociopolitical critic and graduate student of Political Science at California State University, Los Angeles majoring in Global Politics. He writes from Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter @The_New_Mind

The Guardian

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Global reputation of Nigeria dented by FBI fraud bust

Nigerians beating bitcoin scams

How the basic Nigerian email scam evolved into sophisticated malware attacks on corporates

Nigerian internet fraudsters, best known for romance scams and infamous business propositions from “Nigerian princes,” are now operating with a lot more sophistication.

Last August, a major bust by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) offered some insight into the growing scale and capabilities of Nigerian online fraudsters. Federal agents arrested 14 fraudsters operating within the US as part of a prolific network of scammers and named 66 others in a 252-count federal grand jury indictment. The fraudsters had defrauded victims of up to $10 million in one of the “largest cases of its kind in US history.” In total, the ring had attempted to steal $40 million from victims in 10 countries as well as the US.

A new report by Palo Alto Networks, a California-based cyber-security company which says it has researched Nigerian cyber-crime for five years, tries to show how these fraudsters have become a lot more proficient at scams over the past five years, employing more sophisticated tactics and tools to carry out Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. It’s a long way from the classic “Yahoo Yahoo boys” scams 15 odd years ago.

While Nigerian actors were previously classed as “emerging” with regard to malware attacks, recent evidence suggests they “have evolved to a point where they are demonstrating signs of maturity consistent with established threat groups in their delivery techniques, malware packaging, and technical abilities,” Palo Alto Networks’ report notes. Last year, the firm’s malware tracking service identified around 27,000 samples of malware associated with Nigerian actors.

The researchers note the “dominant proportionality and sheer enormity” of BEC scam attempts from Nigerian actors. Last year, BEC scam attempts from these fraudsters resulted in an average of 92,739 attacks per month—172% increase from 2018.

Here’s how BEC scams work: fraudsters use hacked email accounts to convince businesses or individuals to make payments that are either bogus or similar to actual payments owed to legitimate companies. As part of the scam, fraudsters also learn about key personnel in companies who are responsible for those payments as well as the protocols necessary to perform wire transfers in various companies. They then target businesses and individuals that regularly perform such wire transfer payments.

Around $1.7 billion in losses were attributed to BEC attacks last year, more than losses to romance scams, phishing, identity theft, credit card fraud and ransomware, according to the annual report of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

The antics of these fraudsters have come at a wider cost for most Nigerians, as students, business people and tourists are often subject to extra scrutiny from international payment platforms, potential business partners and embassies for visa applications. While successive Nigerian governments have made significant efforts to curb international online fraud from the source at home by awarding notable powers to its anti-fraud agency, the state of the country’s weak economy and large swathes of educated, unemployed young college graduates means fraud is still seen by some as being worth the risk.

However, while growing sophisticated in their methods, Nigerian online fraudsters still “remain indiscriminate in their targeting” with attacks attempted on small and large businesses, healthcare companies as well US government institutions. However, high-tech companies bore the largest brunt of these efforts recording around 313,000 attacks last year—more than double the number in 2018.

And yet, the digital persona linked with young Nigerians has started to change markedly in recent years given several success stories in the country’s fledgling tech ecosystem over the last decade. Nigerian tech startups, innovating to solve many of the country’s systemic problems—from digital payments to online education—have attracted the most funding across Africa last year from major investors.

Nigerian software developers have also become widely sought afterbeyond the country’s shores, partly prompting a $100 million dollar bet on African development talent by software giant, Microsoft.

But even in Nigeria, local police have often “profiled” young men with laptops as online fraudsters as an excuse for harassment and extortion. This has led to significant protests and crowdfunding legal aid by the burgeoning tech community.

By Yomi Kazeem


Quartz