EFCC nabs 2 ‘yahoo boys’ in Ibadan, recovers cars, phones
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibadan zonal office, has arrested two suspected internet fraudsters who the Commission said specialised in stealing people’s identities online to defraud foreign nationals. The Commission stated it arrested the suspects, Crown Babatunde Akeju, 31, and Toba Agbanah, 35, at different locations in Ibadan, following intelligence gathered on their […]
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibadan zonal office, has arrested two suspected internet fraudsters who the Commission said specialised in stealing people’s identities online to defraud foreign nationals.
The Commission stated it arrested the suspects, Crown Babatunde Akeju, 31, and Toba Agbanah, 35, at different locations in Ibadan, following intelligence gathered on their alleged involvement in internet fraud.
The EFCC said that after diligent examination of data and documents retrieved from the suspects, it was able to establish enough ground for prosecution of the suspects for acts contrary to the provisions of the cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015.
Akeju, for instance, was allegedly found mining information from online sites, and in possession of personal information and addresses of several Americans who had fallen victim of his fraudulent acts at different times.
The suspect was said to be operating with two email accounts – one personal and one other supposedly official – to penetrate his victims and dispossess them of their hard-earned money.
EFCC said its investigations also established Akeju’s deployment of fake identity to engage foreigners in romantic affairs with the intention to defraud them.
Findings allegedly revealed various lodgements from his foreign victims into his Nigerian bank accounts.
Agbanah’s case was not too different. He was said to have admitted in his confessional statement to the Commission that he was falsely representing himself as Chris Dan, a 40-year-old Briton working with the United Nations.
He allegedly confessed to have used the foreigner’s picture to lure his victims into romantic relationships, and thereafter solicited money from them allegedly to enable him pay for his flight ticket to pay them scheduled visits. After much familiarization, he would then devise other tricks to swindle them the more.
According to the EFCC, at the point of the arrest of the suspects, it recovered one iPhone x max and one Toyota Venza from Akeju, as well as a Toyota Camry, two Macbooks, one Apple Ipad, one iPhone x max, one iPhone 5, one Infinix phone, two hard drives and one HP printer from Agbanah.