Philippine Arrested 4 Nigerian students for ‘hacking’ the banking system

Philippine arrested Four Nigerians in Muntinlupa City, for alleged involvement in an international syndicate that hacks and siphons funds from banks.

However, the Nigerians denied the allegations.

The National Bureau of Investigation made this known in a statement on Tuesday, ABC CBN News reports.

Vic Lorenzo, the chief of the NBI Cybercrime Division, signed the document, written in Phillwas.

The investigative office reported that “the transactions of the fraudsters-Nigerians-were traced when they hacked a system of one Philippine bank in which at least P100 million was transferred and funneled into another account.”

It alleged that the Nigerians violated the Access Device Law, Anti-Cybercrime law, and falsification of public documents.

But the NBI in the statement failed to name the arrested Nigerians.

The sentence read, “Complicated is the international trade union .. To the extent that they are researching the defects in the method. Once they see a weakness, they will take advantage of that.

“One of the suspects’ Filipina girlfriend admitted to having used her account to deposit and withdraw money amounting to at least P2 million, which was supposedly for tuition.

“The offenders had blank ATM cards and bank receipts seized.”

The Nigerians told ABC CBN that they were in the country to study. And they “know nothing about the hacking incident”.

“The funds withdrawn were donations from a Nigerian student community”, one of them said.

Yahoo boy runs mad after refusing to use his mom as ritual

It so pathetic how a man ran mad after he refused to use his mom as the next ritual. Well, I don't know whether to pity him or we say that serves him right.

When they say you shouldn't go into it, we won't hear. Any one who does what they've never done before, he'll definitely see what has not been seen before. Well, there's nothing new under the heavens. And just in how a man ran mad after he refused to use his mom as ritual.

According to the short minute video cited, the man just ran mad. The woman in the video said he's a yahoo and he has refused to use his mom as ritual. The consequence was madness for him. In the video, the man said they should leave him alone and that he wouldn't use his mom for rituals.

This is a lesson for us and the potential yahoo boys out there. There would always be and end to everything,and the end of being a yahoo boy is really very bad. Why go into it then.

May God help us.

Watch the video here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEn7CFLHngx/?igshid=1z16ltc4ux7j

EFCC arrests 4 Uniport Undergraduates in Port Harcourt over alleged $111,500 Internet Fraud

Operatives of the Port Harcourt zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have arrested four students of the University of Port Harcourt for their alleged involvement in internet fraud.

The quartet, who allegedly defrauded 15 victims of $111,500( One Hundred and Eleven Thousand, Five Hundred United States Dollars) are: Prince Hyacinth; Rex Emadifie Oghene, Odili Ifeayi and Uduak Samuel Williams. 

They were picked up on Thursday, August 20, 2020, from their hideout at Chibiak Avenue, Elenpranwo, Ada George, Port Harcourt.

Upon their arrest, the following items were recovered: one Tecno Spark 4 belonging to Prince Hyacinth; one Iphone 11 Pro Max, two Infinix Hot and one apple Laptop belonging to Odili Ifeayi; one Iphone 7 and two Iphone 11 belonging to Rex Emadifie Oghene and one iphone 8+, one Acer Laptop and one HP Laptop belonging Uduak Samuel Williams.

A preliminary investigation established that the suspects are majorly involved in a romance scam and also act as pickers for organized ring of fraudsters.

While Prince Hyacinth parades himself as a Spain-based marine engineer to bait his victims, Rex Emadifie Oghene poses as a rig engineer based in the United State. The two other suspects, Odili Ifeayi and Uduak Samuel Williams present themselves as rig/marine engineers to defraud their victims.

The suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

Police probe cops extorting N100,000 from youths claiming they are yahoo boys

The Police Complaint Response Unit says it is investigating an allegation levelled against men of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji Adele, Lagos.

The policemen were accused of arbitrarily arresting youths in the Mushin area of the state, tagging them as Internet fraudsters and demanding that they part with N100,000 each before being set free.

The Police CRU, in response to a tweet, said, “Your complaint is hereby acknowledged and investigation has been initiated. Your tracking number is #CRU694654. Thank you for contacting NPF-CRU.”

According to an activist, Segun Awosanya, the policemen usually order their victims to call on their relatives to bail them with N100,000 each.

The activist tweeted, “FSARS from Adeniji Police Station went to Mushin today (Wednesday) to shop for innocent victims. They took a number of guys and ordered them to start calling their families after being harassed at gunpoint and tagged ‘Yahoo boys’, having violated their privacy by going through their phones.

“They parked under Jibowu Bridge where families came to buy back their wards’ freedom at N100,000 per head asking price. Some were lucky to get a rebate, having proven that they had been abducted once before by the same team.”

According to Awosanya, some of the youth were tagged fraudsters simply for having on their phones the Google Hangout app, which allows people to have virtual video calls.

He further tweeted, “A man, whose staffer was among those raided, narrated his ordeal and how he was made to pay N40,000 to release his staff for having Google Hangout on his phone. They claim this app has been outlawed by the Federal Government and they are in charge of this anti-Google Hangout operation. Is this a country?

“Can these rogues be arrested and jailed for armed robbery and kidnapping? The witnesses are willing to testify. This shouldn’t be happening in a country that has a President, even if invalid. Will the police be the trigger of the end of our democracy? It is looking that way.”

Court jails man for cyber crime in Ibadan

An Ibadan-based internet fraudster, Babatunde Akintomiwa, was on Wednesday sentenced to 14 months in prison by Justice Patricia Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, over impersonation and N400,000 fraud.

Ajoku convicted and sentenced Akintomiwa based on the evidence before her and the plea bargain agreement between him and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

She said that the judgment was in line with the provisions of Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 that spelt out how somebody who pleads guilty to an offence should be sentenced.

“I hope that Akintomiwa is remorseful of his actions and willing to contribute positively to society now.

“However, to serve as a warning to others interested in the crime, Akintomiwa is sentenced to 14 months in prison. The sentence starts from the date he was first arrested.

“All the exhibits found in his possession are forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” Ajoku said.

Counsel to the Ibadan Zonal Office of EFCC, Mrs Iyabo Daramola, had told the court that the convict was arraigned on a one-count amended charge bordering on impersonation.

Daramola added that the convict committed the crime on April 19, 2019, in Ibadan.

According to her, Akintomiwa operated a fictitious email address to deceive unsuspecting foreigners.

She further said that deceitful information was retrieved from the said email address.

The EFCC prosecutor said that the proceeds of the crime restituted from Akintomiwa included cash of N400, 000, and Alt 8 Infinix phone and many accessories.

She said that the offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 22A (2B) of the Cyber Crime Prohibition Act, 2015.

The police have rescued an American citizen who was confined in a Lagos hotel where she was held against her wish by Yahoo boys for 16 months- DCP Frank Mba

Frank Mba, police spokes­man, disclosed this on Sun­day.

 

He said: “The victim, who hails from Washington DC, USA, and is a retired civil ser­vant in the US, arrived Nige­ria on 13th February 2019 on a visit to one Chukwuebuka Kasi Obiaku, 34 years old, a native of Ikeduru LGA of Imo State, whom she met on Facebook.

“She was, however, rescued by police operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Ogun State An­nex, following information received from a patriotic and civic-minded Nigerian in the Meran area of Lagos State.

“The rescue of the Amer­ican lady is coming on the heels of a similar case of an abducted Philippino lady who was lured to Nigeria by her supposed lover whom she equally met on Facebook.

“Investigations reveal that the suspect, Chukwuebuka Kasi Obiaku, is a graduate of Business Administration and Management and an internet fraudster who has defrauded many unsuspecting members of the public both locally and internationally.

“Chukwuebuka deliber­ately lured the victim into the country under the pretext of love and deceitfully married her on 15th May 2019.

“He subsequently held her captive in a hotel, extorted from her monies amounting to a total of 48,000-USD.

“He also forcefully collect­ed and took control of her credit and debit cards as well as the operation of her bank accounts, including the receipt of her monthly retirement benefits and allowances over the period of fifteen months.

“Chukwuebuka also used the victim as a front to defraud her associates and other for­eign personalities and com­panies.”

He said all the suspects would be charged to court on conclusion of the investigation and prosecuted in line with the Cybercrime Prevention/ Prohibition Act, 2015.

Again, operatives of the Ni­geria Police Cybercrime Unit, INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja, have ar­rested three suspects over cy­ber-related offences, including advance fee fraud, money laun­dering, and romance scam.

The three persons – Sam­son Inegbenosun (30 years), Blessed Junior (32 years) and Muhammed Zakari (36 years) – are all males from Uromi in Edo State.

The suspects were arrested in Uromi following investiga­tions into suspected fraudu­lent online procurement and supply of COVID-19 protective masks, received through the INTERPOL NCB Wiesbaden, Germany.

In a statement on Sunday, DCP Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer, said investi­gations revealed that Samson Inegbenosun is an internet fraudster and a member of a Turkey-based online scam­ming syndicate.

According to Mba, Inegbe­nosun supplies foreign and local bank accounts to receive fraudulent funds and use the same as a conduit to other feeder ac­counts.

He also said the police had recovered from him, a building apartment worth N20,000,000.00, a Toyota RAV-4 2015 model worth N6,500,000.00, and a Toyota Matrix 2002 model valued at N2,000,000.00, which he allegedly procured with the proceeds of the crime.

He said the second suspect, Blessed Junior, returned to Ni­geria from Italy in February 2020 but maintains close con­tacts and illicit dealings with his Italian associates.

Mba said investigations re­vealed that he had made over N120,000,000.00 from internet fraud and other cybercrime dealings.

“He also received the sum of 52,000 EUROs recently from his criminal associates in Italy as commission for his active involvement in an in­ternational cybercrime deal. He also owns a filling station established with the proceeds of the crime,” the police said.

On his part, Mohammed Zakari, allegedly an expert in internet fraud, identity theft, and impersonation, falsely claims to be a British citizen.

“He also poses to be one Kelly Galk on online dating apps which he uses to carry out romance scams and to de­fraud unsuspecting members of the public, locally and inter­nationally.

“Investigation reveals he has made millions of naira from his illicit cybercrime transactions since he joined the syndicate.”

Saraki reacts to alleged link with Hushpuppi

Former Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has responded to the alleged link with a suspected internet fraudster, Ramon Igbalode Abbas (a.k.a Hushpuppi), describing it as ‘irresponsible and cheap politics.’

Ramon Abbas the Internet fraudster was recently arrested in the United Arab Emirates and extradited to the United States to face criminal charges bordering on cybercrime and fraud.

In a statement, on Saturday, titled: “Cyber Criminals: APC ‘s Statement Irresponsible”, Dr Bukola Saraki denied a statement credited to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and signed on its behalf by Yekini Nabena in which it tried to link him with a cyber-crime suspect, stressing that he had no form of association with the said suspect.

The statement reads: “The statement credited to the APC, the ruling party in our country, is one of the ways by which our anti-graft agencies are weakened and why the fight against corruption in the country is often viewed with suspicion by the international community.

“This is because when these cyber-crime suspects were operating freely and openly displaying wealth, the APC saw nothing bad in their activities.

“Also, the party at that time did not deem it necessary to call on the anti-graft agencies to investigate their activities.

“Also, since the arrest of those cybercrime suspects and the subsequent damage to the image and the economy of Nigeria as well as the crisis it created for Nigerians engaged in lawful businesses across the world, the ruling party had been muted.

“The only time the APC deemed it necessary to make a statement was when it thought it should play dirty, cheap and irresponsible politics.”

The APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, in a statement on Saturday, claimed that the PDP’s leadership turned Dubai into their “strategic” meeting place ahead of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria and “Hushpuppi’s” affinity with the party leadership was not mere coincidence.

Nabena said, at different times, “Hushpuppi” was being photographed in Dubai meeting with the PDP’s 2019 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Senator Dino Melaye among other PDP stalwarts.

He said: “Reports of the criminal conspiracy linking the top echelon of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with Ramon Olorunwa Abbas also known as “Ray Hushpuppi”, who was recently arrested along with associate(s) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and extradited to the United States of America to face trial over cyber-enabled fraud and Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes, should be a matter of serious interest to relevant authorities in Nigeria.

“We note that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has already declared the arraigned Instagram celebrity wanted over fraud allegations.

“However, the EFCC, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and other sister agencies must investigate money laundering reports linking some PDP leaders and financiers to the Dubai-based international criminal ring.

“While relevant authorities investigate the nature of their relationship and business partnership, we also challenge the PDP leadership to do same by opening up on the nature of the relationship, particularly the kind of services the arrested “Hushpuppi” provided them.