The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) said its operatives had arrested a suspect over 597,000 dollars romance fraud.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said this at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Adejobi said the suspect was arrested for allegedly defrauding a female American national of 597,000 dollars in an online love romance.

He said the suspect, arrested following a well-coordinated intelligence operation, had fraudulently assumed the identity of an American, using a fake name, to deceive and exploit unsuspecting victims, primarily women in online romance scams.

He said the suspect, arrested over identity theft, computer-related fraud and money laundering had confessed to defrauding one Deborah Woods, an American national, of 597,000 dollars.

The police spokesman said a search of the suspect’s premises led to the confiscation of multiple electronic gadgets, used in perpetrating the illicit activities.

Mr Adejobi said eight BMW vehicles, suspected to be proceeds of the crime, recovered from the suspect were currently in the police custody as exhibits, while efforts were ongoing to trace and identify other victims.

In a related development, Mr Adejobi said operatives of the NPF-NCCC had also arrested two suspects in connection with the creation and distribution of compromised financial accounts.

The police spokesman said the suspects had used the accounts to facilitate fraudulent transactions amounting to over N400m.

According to him, investigations had revealed that the suspects were recruited via Telegram by an unidentified foreign cybercriminal.

He said the duty of the first suspects was to create Moniepoint financial profiles, using pre-registered SIM cards and email addresses, and distribute to local accomplices across different states for Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.

Mr Adejobi said the second suspect distributes the KYC verifications for the compromised accounts, and fraudulently obtains Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) and KYC details from individuals within his community.

He said the suspect used the identities to upgrade the accounts to Tier 5 verification.

“Upon completion of the KYC process, the second suspect hands over the verified accounts to the first suspect who changes the passwords to secure them for their unknown foreign contractor.

“Both suspects had confessed to the crimes and further revealed that they received payments in cryptocurrency for their services.

“They are currently facing prosecution at a Federal High Court in Abuja for Computer-Related Fraud, Impersonation and Criminal Conspiracy in accordance with the provisions of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act,” he said.

Mr Adejobi said the Nigeria Police Force, in January, arrested a total of 84 suspects over cyber related offences.

He said 32 of the suspects were arrested through the NPF-NCCC, while 52 were arrested by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Lagos.

Mr Adejobi attributed the successes to the action plan and the zeal of the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Kayode Egbetokun to redeem the reputation of Nigeria.

(NAN)