The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said its collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has led to the arrest of a female suspect cyber fraudster in Edo State.
Although EFCC did not disclose the name of the female suspect but said she worked in collaboration with a foreign counterpart in a massive fraud in the United States.
Head of EFCC Benin Zonal Office Muhtar Bello, said the female suspect was involved in obtaining and stealing people’s identification information which she forwards to her American collaborators.
The latest arrest came over a week after United State authorities listed 77 Nigerians in a massive fraud.
US authorities on published names of 80 persons involved in massive fraud, money laundering in the United States.
In the 252-count federal indictment statement seen by The Guardian, at least 77 of the persons were of Nigerian origin.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said 14 of the suspected fraudsters have been arrested across the United States, with 11 of these defendants apprehended in the Los Angeles region.
The remaining defendants are believed to be abroad, most of them in Nigeria, authorities said.
Bello, however, said the American collaborators of the suspect used the information she had obtained to file for the fraudulent tax return with the Internal Revenue Service.
He stated that the suspect received her CT through Bitcoin and about 185 Bitcoin currently worth N656m was traced to her account.
The EFCC Zonal head said it independently arrested a cybercriminal and two siblings involved in Business Email Compromise (BEC).
Bello outlined their Operandi as searching for victims’ email addresses especially official Business Email addresses; create a phishing link and compromising the process in order to defraud unsuspecting victims.
“The three suspects will have their date in court soon. We do not want to state the woman’s name so as not to compromise investigation,” Bello said.
He said EFCC is resolute in uncovering cybercrime and prosecute all those involved in the fraudulent acts.
Bello disclosed that EFCC’s previous raids in Edo, Delta and Ondo States have led to the arrest of 113 internet fraudsters, while the prosecution of many of the fraudsters is ongoing in court, he said 53 convictions have been secured.
He said over 30 exotic cars, charms, laptops, mobile phones, flash drives were recovered from the suspects.
