Nigeria’s ‘Yahoo Boys’. File photo
from OKORO CHINEDU in Lagos, Nigeria
LAGOS, (CAJ News) – NIGERIAN authorities have arrested 94 suspected internet fraudsters during a raid at a local club notorious for hosting scammers.
Some 19 exotic cars, laptops, mobile phones and other items have been confiscated following the raid at the nightspot called ‘Club Secret Underground’ in the town of Osogbo in the southwestern Osun State.
“The wee-hour operation was sequel to an intelligence report hinting that the suspected internet fraudsters were organising a night party during which some of them intended to celebrate their loots,” said Wilson Uwujaren spokesperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He said the suspects were currently undergoing further interrogation.
“Those indicted will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded,” Uwujaren said.
The West African country is battling a surge of internet-based crimes.
It is mostly blamed on university undergraduates struggling to secure jobs.
The fraudsters are known as the ‘Yahoo Boys’, named after the international web portal and search engine.
Their main tricks include romance scams as well as advance fee and lottery fraud.
– CAJ News