In India and other countries around the world, elderly men and women are most times lonely, As a result they resort to seeking love online.
This makes them vulnerable to fraudsters who prey on their need for affection.
Some young Nigerians have engaged in this fraudulent activity, exploiting women and men.
In India, police officers have arrested a Nigerian man for allegedly duping a lonely 64-year-old woman of Rs 8 lakh in India ($9,743.59).
Times of India reports that the woman is from Parnasree.
In 2020, during COVID-19 pandemic, her loneliness level rose to a great height.
She started spending hours on Facebook and was not aware of what was to come.
Lost All Savings In One Week
Unfortunately, she ended up walking into a trap set by the Nigerian national, working with an Indian fraudster.
The woman approached police in April and the accused a young man identified as Young Emeka.
Police began to search for the young man.
Finally, Emeka was arrested on Saturday, May 6, 2023, from the outskirts of Delhi.
On the day of his arrest, police detective department and Delhi Police crime branch had stormed a neighbourhood in Chander Vihar.
They entered in the dark to arrest the accused.
However, residents stopped the police, unknowingly providing some sort of cover for Emeka.
Afterwards, the police gained access and arrested Young Emeka.
According to the DC in charge of cyber crimes, Atul V, Emeka was posing as a British man. His British ‘scam name’ is Eric James.
He struck up a friendship with the woman online.
As their relationship progressed, Emeka reportedly offered to send the woman a gift.
He claimed the gift had some foreign currencies added to it.
Shortly, he reportedly told her the Customs had seized it as a “duty” of Rs 7.9 lakh had not been paid.
The woman was reportedly convinced to pay the pending “Customs duty” and within a week, she lost all her savings, police said, narrating a popular scam format in Nigeria.
The guys often referred to as Yahoo Boyz use this story as a format.
Love Gone Wrong
Once she sent the money, the accused cut off all ties with her.
“Among the accounts, where the money had gone, two were found to be private banks.
Categorically, one of them is in Mizoram, a place in north-east India.
According to the police, a part of the amount was credited to a Mizoram woman’s account at a bank branch at Hnahthial in Mizoram.
The phone number linked was someone else’s, as was common in the modus operandi of Nigerian fraudsters, police said.
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A statement by Indian police read: “Based on the IMEI (device) search of the number, we traced Emeka to near Jiya Memorial Public School in Chander Vihar
“Emeka was produced at Tis Hazari court in Delhi on Saturday, from where we are securing his transit custody,” said Atul.
“Police are finding out if Emeka is part of cyber gangs in Delhi.
“These gangs have duped hundreds of women”.
Furthermore, police say these women are not just in India but also in Portugal, Sweden and the Netherlands.
