792 individuals were apprehended by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency on suspicion of being involved in a crypto romance fraud scheme that was being operated out of the nation’s largest metropolis.
In a raid on a building in the nation’s largest city, Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency apprehended 792 individuals. The agency suspects that the building was the centre of a substantial crypto romance fraud operation.
An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesperson informed Reuters on Dec. 16 that the suspects, who were apprehended at the building in Lagos on Dec. 10, were comprised of 148 Chinese and 40 Filipino nationals.
“The foreign kingpins recruited Nigerian accomplices to prospect for victims online through phishing, primarily targeting Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, and several other European countries,” the EFCC spokesperson stated.
“The expatriates would assume responsibility for defrauding the victims once the Nigerians have established trust with potential victims,” they further stated.
The EFCC stated that the suspects would make contact with victims via social media with the intention of seducing them or offering phoney crypto investment schemes. They would then pressure them to transmit money, a type of swindle known as pig butchering.
Ken Gamble, co-founder of the cybercrime investigative firm IFW Global, which has collaborated with the EFCC, informed Cointelegraph that Chinese crime groups are expanding into Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe after establishing larger, comparable schemes in Southeast Asia.
According to Gamble, “Chinese organized crime organizations are expanding their operations into countries with inferior cybersecurity enforcement frameworks.” “The local Nigerian fraud syndicates are able to improve their operations by leveraging the technology, infrastructure, and financing provided by the Chinese.”
According to Gamble, the alleged Lagos-based scheme was smaller than others, with Chinese ringleaders typically attempting to employ approximately 1,000 individuals in the scheme.
He stated that certain regions in Myanmar had as many as 5,000 individuals engaged in the fraud scheme. Gamble clarified that these workers, who were recruited through job advertisements, would be compensated at a rate that was “superior” to the average income in their respective countries.
For instance, Nigerians may receive a monthly salary of up to $500, which is ten times the country’s minimum wage. Additionally, they may receive an incentive contingent upon the number of effective schemes they carry out.
The spokesperson for the EFCC stated that the agency was in the process of collaborating with international partners and would be investigating the potential connection between the alleged scheme and organized crime.
The blockchain security firm Chainalysis reported in August that pig butchering hoaxes were on the rise this year, as cybercriminals are favoring the faster style of schemes over the long-burning Ponzi schemes.
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