Three Nigerian Men Arrested For Duping Indian Woman

Three Nigerian men were detained by cybercrime police in Vadodara, India, for defrauding a woman of more than Rs 2.62 lakh.

Police stated the accused, Lezhu John, Gibril Mohammed, and Egboola Ekena, were conducting a cybercrime ring that fooled hundreds of individuals across the country.

All three were apprehended in Delhi, the Vadodara police said in a statement on Saturday, December 7, 2024.

A woman in her late twenties filed a complaint with the Cybercrime police station a few months ago after realising she was being duped.

The complainant told authorities that she met the accused while checking her Instagram account.

The defendant, going by the name Sohn Yunmin, stated that he was employed at a large energy company in the United Kingdom and claimed to be a chemical engineer from the United States.

After telling her that he will soon be working in Assam, he became friends with the woman.

According to the police, the complainant became very close to the accused and even sent him a present.

In April of this year, the accused informed the woman that he needed to purchase some machinery and that his friend, who was meant to cover the cost, was short on funds in his bank account. She complied when he requested her to send him Rs 50,000.

After a few days, the accused informed her that he was traveling to Assam because he had received a job opportunity there, and that his cargo would soon arrive in India.

After a few days, she received a call from a woman named Niharika, who demanded for Rs 35,500 for the delivery containing US money. She transferred the funds, but Niharika kept requesting more money, citing various reasons.

The complainant ended up sending Rs 1.69 lakh, but she quickly realized she was being defrauded. Police tracked out the suspects based on bank account transactions.

“Investigations revealed that the accused used over 500 bank accounts to commit the fraud. Over 900 complaints have been filed across the country in connection with these bank accounts,” said M M Rajput, ACP (Cybercrime), Vadodara.

The accused group had numerous images of men and women on their cell phones.

They utilized these photographs to create bogus profiles on social media and deceive others.