Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Meanwhile, public dissatisfaction continues to grow. His companies used phishing emails to steal funds from victims. Online scamming: 'If it doesn't look right, don't trust it'. The Nigerian scam has been around for a long time. 33 suspects were arrested in the US for BEC and romance scam-related crimes. Blood, sweat and literal tears VideoBlood, sweat and literal tears 2023 BBC. Suspects are believed to be members of Black Axe, a Nigerian confraternity and crime syndicate. For the nine-month period, fraud attempts increased by 186% from 16,128 in 2019 to 46,126 as mentioned earlier. According to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria gained at least 2.5 million Internet subscribers during the lockdown of April 2020. 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks trip of lifetime for TikToker, Anorexia: 'I made the podcast I wish I'd listened to', Arena bombing family 'let down at every level', An undercover investigation on tea producing plantations find shocking conditions. Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) has launched a new spicy noodles flavour tagged Golden Penny Jollof Hot Hot noodles. Perhaps the best-known Nigerian BEC fraudster is Ramon "Hushpuppi" Abbas, who. A Nigerian businessman, who once appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine, has been jailed for 10 years in the US over a cyber fraud scam that led to the theft of about $11m (8m). Despite this impressive growth, social media is also a hotbed for fraud and scams. Heres why, Kenyan court releases frozen Flutterwave funds, Africas role in the global reskilling epidemic, Mobile apps, EHRs, and other tech tools assisting Africans in managing and preventing diseases, The CBN introduces enhanced eNaira services, How to leverage media audiences for your B2B brand growth, Dash suspends CEO, Vodafone Ghana sold, Angolas $89M cloud project, Chipper Cash and Bolt layoffs, Why local content is not yet the key to increasing subscriber numbers on movie streaming platforms in Nigeria, Here are the winners of the Inspired Technovation Challenge at Techpoint Inspired, Egyptian startup, Koinz raises $4.8m seed round, The future of VoD in Nigeria is more promising now than ever, Your network will pay a 5m fine if they dont stop sending you unwanted messages, Tech Blogger? What's more: About one in ten people lost money in 2019. Tom Temin And by the way, the Labor Department, as you report states, is opening 100 cases a week to investigate instances of fraud. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a woman of Nigerian descent, Amanda Azubuike, has become a Brigadier General of the United States Army. David Animashaun, 38 arrested in DFW, charged with wire fraud conspiracy. I have two daughters, one father shouted in a video widely shared on social media. These victims are made to build trust with the scammers as they would pose interest by sharing a fake snivel story and then request a large sum of money. The bulk of this loss occurred between July and September 2020, when companies lost up to 3.36 billion. Sen. Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe on Wednesday in Calabar commended Cross Rivers Gov. The suspectsarrested and chargedin the Northern District of Texas include: The suspectsarrested and chargedin the Eastern District of Texas include: Catalin Cimpanu is a former cybersecurity reporter for Record Future News. He said the schemes allegedly perpetrated by the Nigerians charged this week were particularly insidious because they played on people's emotions. The one brother was married to a South African citizen," he said. People between the ages of 20 and 40 account for 35% of those reports. In one phishing attack in 2018 the fraudsters managed to gain access to the email of a manager at Unatrac Holding Limited, the export sales office for Caterpillar's heavy industrial and farm equipment. He pled guilty to money laundering in mid-2021. One of the larger Nigerian cybercrime gangs, known as SilverTerrier, has been hit in a law enforcement operation, with 11 individuals arrested in December, Interpol announced on Wednesday. What did the government do about Covid and care homes? Adedunmola Gbadegesin, a Nigerian, has been sentenced. NIBSS asserts that fraudsters are also leveraging the recent surge in POS usage through agency banking. It would mean all adults in Northern Ireland would be considered a potential organ donor . The challenge of fraud is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, as several other countries faced similar challenges in 2020. Romance scams are often difficult to prosecute because victims are often embarrassed, feel duped, and dont want to come forward.. The company claimed that one of those arrested had previously been apprehended by the FBI in 2018. The men are wanted in Texas and New Jersey for a variety of offences, including conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, money-laundering and aggravated identity theft. 10:35 am, Eleven Nigerians have been indicted by the United States authorities for defrauding elderly Americans in romance scams. They are accused of using business email fraud schemes and romance scams to con victims - many of them elderly. ABUJA, July 29 (Reuters) - A Nigerian police chief has denied involvement in what a U.S. indictment describes as an elaborate scheme to defraud a Qatari businessperson of more than $1 million,. 2019 NEA Jazz master and seven-time Grammy-winner Maria Schneider showcases her expansive talent with arrangements from her 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist album "Data Lords." With her 18-piece orchestra, Schneider boldly explores the polar extremes of the digital and organic world. The majority of the defendants charged in this investigation have ties to a transnational organised crime syndicate originating in Nigeria, law enforcement revealed Friday, the United States Department of Justice said in a statement. Nicknamed "yahoo-yahoo" after the international web portal and search engine, this perfidy has become a way of life for the young con-artists. Read about our approach to external linking. The suspects also engaged in online romance scams, operating on dating sites such as Match.com, ChistianMingle, JSwipe, and Plenty of Fish. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Watch: Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Read about our approach to external linking. NBM maintain that they do not have connections to Black Axe, however is essentially just a different name that acts as a nominal cover for the Black Axe confraternity. Interestingly, people ranged 21 30 were the second most defrauded at 31%. The NIBSS expects this trend to continue as more people come online and become more dependent on electronic transactions for their day-to-day activities. A Nigerian businessman, who once appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine, has been jailed for 10 years in the US over a cyber fraud scam that led to the theft of about $11m (8m). Acting U.S. Attorney, Prerak Shah, stated at a press conference while announcing the charges against them that These criminals rely on victims isolation, loneliness, and sometimes their grief. Privacy Policy. You are obliged to ensure my childrens safety! Nonetheless, Helsinki has fewer diplomatic obstacles than Stockholm, and the Finnish government wants to press forward even before the April elections in Finland. The arrests, which took place last week, targeted individuals part of Black Axe, a transnational organized crime syndicate originating from Nigeria and operating across the globe. Joseph Akeredolu is part of a gang that creates fake accounts on social media lures people through the accounts and then dupes them under the pretext of sending gifts, According to Indian police, [] July 20, 2021 Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies have arrested a syndicate of Nigerian unemployment fraudsters in the United States of America. SaharaReporters.com is an outstanding, groundbreaking news website that encourages citizen journalists to report ongoing corruption and government malfeasance in Africa. The 419 scam is so prevalent in Nigeria that the fraudsters who carry out such crimes are locally . If convicted, the defendants face up 20 years in federal prison on the wire fraud conspiracy counts and up to 10 years in federal prison on the money laundering conspiracy counts. Internet-based scams like the ones described in the indictment cost victims $600 million in 2020, according to the FBI. This Monday, the prosecutor general announced the launch of a criminal inquiry. Catch up with me, @eruskkii, on Twitter or send a mail to emmanuel@techpoint.africa, Even with zero charges and speedy transfers, Nigerians are not using the eNaira. According to the FBIs most recent annual cybercrime report, losses totaled $1.8 billion in 2020 alone, with global losses estimated to be close to $5 billion in the years between 2018 and 2020. They are facing extradition charges to the United States. Feb. 27, 2023), Dollar To Naira Exchange Rate Today (Tue. Your email address will not be published. 2021 Types of Fraud Total Number of Cases Reported Involving Bank S taff Only Involving Outside Persons . The 11 persons were arrested in a Wednesday morning operation and have been charged for a number of financial crimes, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Facebook Twitter The actions of a few should not tarnish all Nigerians, she added. Originally conducted over phone, fax, and traditional mail, this scam invites victims to send a small amount of money on the promise of receiving a much larger sum in return. Those aged 31 40 account for 27%, while people below 20 were the least defrauded with 6%. A picture of the suspect obtained by Palo Alto researchers shows him standing next to luxury cars carrying the TMT branding. Police have so far arrested 14 suspects across the US, 11 in Los Angeles alone. A full bail application was set down for next Tuesday and Thursday pending an extradition hearing. Thirty-five Nigerians have been arrested in North Texas by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, for involvement in a fraud worth $117million. Eight Nigerian men accused of an internet dating scam have appeared in a South African court after a massive international operation involving the FBI and Interpol. They made fraudulent wire transfers to the value of nearly $11m, and moved the funds overseas. He was sentenced in the United States to 11 years for conspiracy to launder money obtained from business email compromise frauds and other scams, including schemes that defrauded a US law firm of about $40 million, illegally transferred . The NIBSS recounts that mobile-led fraud channels saw a 330% Year-on-Year growth in 2020. Credit applications. Hushpuppi, whose real name is Ramon Abbas, was. At 1,340 kilometers, Finland has the longest European Union border with Russia (832 miles). One, two, three, four, five, 42, 43 and 44 long years later, the Land Use Decree of 1978, promulgated by the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, now retired, remains the governing law on land use in Nigeria. Set down for next Tuesday and Thursday pending an extradition hearing accused of using business email fraud schemes and scam-related. A criminal inquiry: 'If it does n't look right, do n't trust it ' have been by... Charges to the FBI in 2018 was married to a South African citizen, he. 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