JUST IN: EFCC Makes Biggest Arrest in 1 Day, Details Emerge

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has made a massive breakthrough in its fight against cryptocurrency and romance scams. In its largest single-day operation, the EFCC arrested 792 suspects in Lagos, including 114 Chinese nationals, 40 Filipinos, two Khazartans, one Pakistani, and one Indonesian.

The suspects were found in a seven-storey building in Victoria Island, Lagos, where foreigners were allegedly training Nigerians on how to initiate romance and investment scams. Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesperson, said the foreigners created fake profiles for their Nigerian accomplices to engage in romance and cryptocurrency scams.

According to the anti-graft agency, the building was equipped with high-end desktop computers, and over 500 SIM cards from Nigerian telecommunications operators were recovered. The suspects allegedly targeted mostly Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, and several others from European countries through phishing and online scams.

The EFCC spokesperson revealed that the Nigerian accomplices were recruited by the foreign kingpins and provided with logs to access foreign communication lines and victims. They were also assigned WhatsApp accounts linked to foreign telephone numbers, especially from Germany and Italy. Their jobs were to engage victims in romantic conversations and phantom business and investment discussions to trick them into shopping on a purported online investment shopping platform called www.yooto.com

Uwujaren added that the EFCC has been working to disrupt the operations of these scammers, and this latest operation is a significant milestone in that effort. The suspects are currently being held in custody with valid remand warrants and will be arraigned soon. This operation demonstrates the EFCC’s commitment to combating financial crimes and protecting Nigerians and foreigners from these scams.

See the EFCC’s statement here: