{"id":29123,"date":"2024-12-17T14:47:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T14:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=29123"},"modified":"2024-12-17T14:47:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T14:47:51","slug":"nigerian-crypto-romance-scam-busted-authorities-arrest-792-in-massive-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=29123","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian Crypto-Romance Scam Busted: Authorities Arrest 792 In Massive Crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 792 suspects linked to an international cryptocurrency and romance scam.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to <\/span>Africa News,<\/span><\/a> the raid conducted on 10 December 2024, targeted a seven-story building in Lagos, the country\u2019s commercial hub.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dubbed the \u201cBig Leaf Building,\u201d this luxury facility allegedly served as a call center for orchestrating sophisticated online fraud schemes that exploited victims across Europe and the Americas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Explore: How To Avoid Crypto Scams Over The Holidays in 2 Minutes\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scam Involved Both Local And Foreign Actors\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The suspects, including 148 Chinese and 40 Filipino nationals, are detained on December 10 at the Big Leaf Building in Lagos,\u00a0Nigeria’s commercial capital https:\/\/t.co\/tpZStAKDER<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) December 17, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n

The EFCC\u2019s raid uncovered an elaborate setup involving both local and foreign actors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the arrested individuals were 148 Chinese nationals and 40 Filipinos, highlighting the global scope of the operation.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren, the suspects used social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram to lure victims into fake investment opportunities or romance scams, with cryptocurrency being a primary tool of deception.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNigerian accomplices were recruited by the foreign kingpins to prospect for victims online through phishing, targeting mostly Americans, Canadians, Mexicans and several others from European countries,\u201d Uwujaren said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the Nigerians are able to win the confidence of would-be victims, the foreigners would take over the actual task of defrauding the victims,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The fraudsters reportedly built trust with their victims before pressuring them to transfer funds into fraudulent schemes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nigerian operatives initiated contact with victims, while their foreign collaborators managed the financial transactions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The EFCC seized computers, phones, and vehicles during the raid and is now collaborating with international partners to investigate potential links to organized crime.<\/span><\/p>\n

Explore: LastPass Hackers Steal $5.36 Million From Users Days Before Christmas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nigeria Is Among Countries With High Rates Of Crypto Adoption Globally\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With platforms like Binance and Paxful facilitating peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, Nigeria has a high rate of\u00a0 crypto adoption.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, this widespread adoption has also made the country a hotspot for crypto-related crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0In recent years, the EFCC has intensified its crackdown on such activities, freezing bank accounts linked to suspicious transactions and prosecuting thousands of cybercriminals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Explore: Africa Crypto Week: Jack Dorsey in Kenya, Fire Brigade Buy BTC, Bybit\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Nigerian Crypto-Romance Scam Busted: Authorities Arrest 792 In Massive Crackdown<\/a> appeared first on 99Bitcoins<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 792 suspects linked to an international cryptocurrency and romance scam.\u00a0 According to Africa News, the raid conducted on 10 December 2024, targeted a seven-story building in Lagos, the country\u2019s commercial hub.\u00a0 Dubbed the \u201cBig Leaf Building,\u201d this luxury facility allegedly served as a call center for orchestrating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":29124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}