The FBI in the United States have indicted 80 Persons nvolved in a high level internet fraud. The trend is becoming common in the United States as several fraud syndicates have been implicated.
The Nigerians arrested Valentine Iro 33 of Carson ,and Chukwudi Christogunus Igokwe 38 of Gardena both in Los Angeles were clamped down by the US authorities when they tried to defraud victims of $40m. Internet Fraudsters popularly known in Nigeria as Yahoo Yahoo boys have actually powered up their game.
They consistently target the lovelorn and the elderly in their recent nefarious activities. The 2 Nigerians and their group of fraudsters numbering about 80 were nabbed by the US police in Los Angeles.
The 2 Nigerian men were arrested on Thursday 22nd August when they tried to swindle unsuspecting victims of $40m. Alongside their group they have been implicated of multi million dollars internet fraud of over$6m. These funds were transfered through high level money laundering network run by the 2 Nigerians.
The US authorities announced the arrest of the 2 Nigerians and indicted the rest mostly Nigerians who are involved in this internet money laundering activity.They practically have netted millions of dollars from gullible individuals.
According to the criminal complaints, the Fraudsters target victims in the US and across the globe in romance scams and fake emails from known businesses, all in a bid to get money sent to them under false pretences. The FBI said the scheme resulted in a false transfer of over $6m.
Paul Delacourt, the FBI Assistant Director in Charged asserted that the fraudsters prey on the vulnerable population who have been fooled by sophisticated cyber frauds to transfer money. He also pointed out that the criminals also look out for employees in reputable companies in charge of finance and send fradulent emails that look like any of their vendor’s emails and the companies end up sending money to them thinking its genuine. This is high power fraud he asserted. The criminals have been charged to court and we are bursting more syndicate he said.
The FBI called it one of the largest internet Fraud Schemes the agency has ever seen.
The FBI reported that the 2 Nigerians are already in Federal Custody, 6 are fugitives believed to be in the United States and the rest are suspected to be abroad mostly in Nigeria.
