The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) has busted two suspects responsible for computer-related fraud, identity theft, cryptocurrency fraud, and obtaining money by false pretence.
The suspects, twenty four years old Odia Theophilus and twenty five years old Ebo Junior Success were rounded up at their hideout in Benin City, Edo State.
The Police Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi said the duo run a syndicate specialized in defrauding unsuspecting victims from foreign countries by assuming appealing identities of other persons and promising them romantic relationships, under the pretext of which they defraud their victims.
According to mr. Adejobi, in the extant case, a report on their activities was received from Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency in Korea through the Interpol National Central Bureau that in May, 2021, the suspects approached the victim, one Baek Seong-hee, a Korean national, via Kakaotalk, a mobile messaging application used majorly in South Korea, in the guise of being a member of the US Armed Forces stationed in Yemen.
He said that the suspect used the pretext of a romantic relationship and defrauded the victim of 259,637,941 Korean Won (KRW) worth of cryptocurrency equivalent to about 91 million Nigerian Naira.
“The suspects confessed to being part of a syndicate responsible for these crimes and stated their roles as accomplices who provide bank accounts for fraudsters in furtherance of their nefarious activities”
He said the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Alkali Baba commended the efforts of the Head, NPF-NCCC, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Uche Ifeanyi Henry, in ensuring clampdown on cybercrime related offences.
The IGP similarly extolled the collaboration being enjoyed with other police agencies worldwide via the Interpol NCB platform stressing its importance in tackling transnational crimes.
