The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has arrested 43 suspected internet fraudsters in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

In a statement on Thursday, Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson, said the suspects were arrested during a sting operation on Wednesday at Rumuekeni and Iwofe areas of the state.

“They were arrested for alleged internet fraud following actionable intelligence surveillance on their suspected involvement in computer-related offences,” the statement reads.

“Items recovered from them include different brands of mobile phones, laptops, international passports and Automated Teller Machine, ATM cards of different banks, five vehicles, two motorcycles and a Point of Sale, POS, machine.

“The suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation.”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Kaduna State Command, said its operatives have seized 1,045.93 kg of various illicit substances and arrested 420 suspects in the third quarter of the year.

Its commander, Mr Samaila Danmalam, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Kaduna.

Danmalam said, “The command had within the period under review arrested a total of 420 suspects, comprising 404 males and 16 females.

“The figure represents both drug dealers, drug users and traffickers.”

The commander also disclosed that the command has made seizures of various illicit substances.

He said, “The illicit substances included Cocaine, Cannabis Sativa, Rohypnol, Tramadol, Methamphetamine, and other psychotropic substances grossly weighing 1,045.93 kg.

“The command seized a total of 1,393 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and equally seized four locally made arms in the course of its numerous operations in the period being reported.

“The command equally secured the conviction of 30 drug offenders and charged a total of 54 suspects, while investigations on others are ongoing.”

Danmalam said in its non-kinetic approach to combating the drug menace through drug demand reduction activities, the command carried out various sensitization and awareness programmes.

“It counselled 50 drug users while it rehabilitated 50 drug-dependent persons, who successfully recovered and were reintegrated into mainstream society,” he stated.

He said the command would continue to combat illicit drug trafficking even as he appealed for timely and useful information for quick response and proactive measures.

Last month, NDLEA operatives intercepted consignments of cocaine and pharmaceutical opioids concealed in ladies’ sanitary pads.

Men of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have seized $6 million worth of crypto assets from Southeast Asian scammers who were defrauding Americans with confidence investment schemes.

The scammers were based in Southeast Asia and were able to pull off their schemes on US citizens from there.

The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia raised alarm on the growing cases of fraud in the country stating that one or more individual’s lost millions of dollars after they were sold on investment schemes that appeared legitimate.

The FBI during its investigations traced the stolen funds on the Blockchain and fished out multiple crypto addresses linked to the scam and were still holding over $6 million of the victim’s digital assets.

The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced the development in a recent press release.

“The United States seized over $6 million worth of cryptocurrency from perpetrators overseas. The perpetrators in Southeast Asia targeted one or more individuals in the United States and fraudulently obtained millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency through a cryptocurrency confidence investment scheme.

The FBI was able to trace victim funds on the blockchain and located multiple cryptocurrency wallet addresses which still held victim funds totaling more than $6 million.

Cryptocurrency confidence investment schemes begin with criminals contacting potential victims through seemingly misdirected text messages, dating applications, or professional meetups or investment groups. Next, using various means of manipulation, the criminal gains the victim’s affection and trust.” The US Attorney stated.

FBI Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough commented on the development too lamenting the damage such scams are causing to hardworking Americans.

These types of schemes are devastating, and they’re impacting thousands of Americans every day,” “The FBI has seen victims lose millions of dollars, and take second and third mortgages on their homes, all in the hopes of finding the next big investment opportunity. 

The seizure of millions of dollars is proof the FBI will stop at nothing to find these fraudsters who insist on taking advantage of the American public. It doesn’t matter where they are, we will leverage all of our resources and work with our partners domestically and internationally to stop them from stealing people’s hard-earned money.” 

Global stablecoin issuer Tether said that it assisted the FBI in the operation by freezing the accounts of the scammers leading to the FBI recovering the funds.

The US attorney’s office confirmed that the majority of the victims of the scam were approached through unsolicited messages, dating apps, and investment groups.

After building up the confidence and Trust of the user the scammers invite them to invest in fraudulent investment schemes which are usually clones of legitimate ones.

The victims in the long run lose all the money that they set aside for the investment.