Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC) have arrested nine suspects over impersonation, money laundering, romance fraud, online investment fraud and other computer related offences.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of NPF-NCCC, Mr Akaninyene Ezima made this known at a news conference on Friday in Abuja.
He said the increasing sophistication of cybercrime, particularly the exploitation of digital platforms for financial fraud, identity theft and other technology-enabled criminal activities had remained a significant challenge to law enforcement agencies.
Ezima said the NPF-NCCC would remain committed to strengthening intelligence-led investigations, advancing digital forensic capabilities and deepening international collaboration in combating emerging cyber threats.
He said the successes recorded by the centre was in line with the vision of the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Olatunji Disu to ensure a safe and secured environment for economic growth and public safety.
Ezima said the arrest of four of the suspects followed an intelligence shared by the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA), a multinational initiative targeting online fraud networks and scam centres.
According to him, the intelligence indicated that social media accounts linked to a suspected transnational criminal network involved in fraudulent investment schemes were being operated from locations within Delta, Nigeria.
He said the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia and other jurisdictions were the major targets of the fraudulent scheme.
“Acting on this intelligence, operatives of the NPF-NCCC, through coordinated investigation and digital forensic analysis, traced the locations to Agbor and Okpanam in Delta, leading to the arrest of four suspects in October.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects allegedly employed synthetic identities across social media and messaging platforms to target unsuspecting victims abroad,” he said.
Ezima said one of the suspects had impersonated professional investment traders by using Facebook accounts bearing different IDs.
According to him, some of the IDs included one Mariana Coman and redirected victims from Chatgroups which he created to fraudulent investment websites namely www.andescapitalgrouplc.com, www.navidargroupllc.com and www.stockbase.com.
He said the websites presented themselves as investment and trading platforms on forex, cryptocurrency as well as oil and gas where victims deposit funds in wallets controlled and accessed by the suspect and his syndicate.
Ezima said the suspect had admitted to moving the proceeds of his crime from different wallet addresses created for his targeted victim in different countries.
He said cryptocurrency analysis from one of the wallets controlled by the suspect disclosed 21 approved cryptocurrency transaction receipts amounting to a total of 21,150 US dollars.
The AIG said another member of the cyber gang created several Facebook accounts and had admitted victimising an Indonesian citizen who paid 7,000,000 Indonesian Rupiah through an account provided by a money mule.
He said the third member of the gang is a 300-level student at Delta State University, engaged in sextortion and cryptocurrency fraud.
Ezima said the target of the suspects were victims in Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Canada and other jurisdictions.
“The suspect posted online hookup advertisements and received responses from unsuspecting victims through a WhatsApp account registered, using a United States telephone number.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect also engaged victims through an online platform www.clubhouse.com offering live audio conversations, persuading them to invest in Bitcoin, claiming to purchase at lower prices and sell at higher rates.
“He impersonated Michael Novogratz, CEO Galaxy Digital and used photographs obtained from Pinterest as profile pictures to conceal his identity,” he said.
Ezima said the 4th member of the syndicate is a website developer and owns 360 Web Tech, an unregistered web development company.
He said the suspect advertises his services on Instagram and TikTok with usernames 360_webtech and 360_webtech02 respectively.
According to him, preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect developed websites for healthcare, investment and online banking services.
“The online banking platforms were designed to allow administrators to control all functions, including deposits and withdrawals.
“The suspect has admitted to developing six websites used by scammers to carry out fraudulent activities,” he said.
Ezima said exhibits recovered during the operation were 36 mobile devices, three routers and other exhibits now subject of forensic examination.
In a related development, the AIG said operatives of the centre had also arrested two suspects over money laundering and computer related frauds.
He said the suspects were arrested following an intelligence-led investigation, undertaken by the NPF-NCCC in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the German Federal Criminal Police Office, Bundeskriminalamt (BKA).
“Intelligence received from the RCMP revealed the activities of a suspected Nigeria-based romance fraud network which targeted elderly residents of Canada between 2020 and 2024.
“Preliminary investigation indicated that members of the network employed fictitious identities on social media and messaging platforms to establish deceptive romantic relationships with unsuspecting victims.
“Having gained their trust, the threat actors solicited funds under various pretences, including purported business investments, financial assistance and loans with promises of repayment,” he said.
According to him, in one instance, a victim was deceived by a threat actor who impersonated a United States Military physician, William Barabash.
He said the suspect sent log-in details of a fake bank website called ‘CB Reserve’ Bank which displayed a huge bank balance under the name of the said William Barabash.
“Having built trust, the victim subsequently transferred over CA$200,000 between 2020 and 2022.
“Further investigation linked the transaction to one of the suspects, who with the consent of his wife, used her email address and phone number, to open a Binance wallet through which funds totaling USDT 1,684,441 were laundered,” he said.
According to him, another victim was induced into making cryptocurrency transfers in the sum of CA$214,000 and a wire transfer of CA$3,000.
Ezima said the digital assets were deposited into two Bitcoin wallet addresses which were traced to one another suspect.
He said the digital assets were similarly laundered through money mules identified as Tears of Joy LTD, United Kingdom, Henryford Services Inc. and other jurisdictions which includes Canada, the United States, Nigeria, Turkey and Kenya.
Ezima said five victims had so far been identified, with the documented financial losses of two victims alone exceeding 417,000 Canadian dollars.
He said the exhibits recovered during the operation included two mobile devices and two laptops, which were undergoing forensic examination at the center.
The AIG said the NPF-NCCC, in collaboration with its partners, were sustaining efforts to identify and apprehend other members of the suspected criminal network, trace the movement of illicit funds and facilitate the recovery of proceeds of crime.
