The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has tagged the highbrow Lekki neighborhood of Lagos State as the center of internet crime in Nigeria.
In a post on its facebook wall entitled: ‘Lekki now hotbed of cybercrime,’ the agency said 402 suspects were arrested in three months.
It identified Ajah, Badore, Victoria Garden City, Sangotedo and Oniru areas of Lekki as having many internet fraudsters in the state.
The data also showed that many of the arrested fraudsters were aged between 25-34 years.
“Lekki, the fast-developing upper-middle-class area of Lagos Metropolis, is emerging as the new hub of internet-related fraud.
“Data from the investigation activities of the Lagos Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for the second quarter of 2021, indicates that Lekki District is the preferred location for all manner of cyber fraud syndicates.
“Between April and June 2021, the advance fee fraud and cyber crime sections of the command recorded a total of 402 internet-related fraud arrests. While the Advance Fee Fraud Section was responsible for 243 arrests, the Cyber Crime Section executed 18 sting operations which resulted in 159 arrests, from which 13 convictions have so far been recorded.
“Of the 159 suspects arrested by the Cyber Crime Section, 70 are from Lekki, comprising communities such as Ajah, Badore, Victoria Garden City, Sangotedo and Oniru.
“Ajah accounted for 24 suspects, while Oniru and Sangotedo had 14 and 13 suspects respectively. Badore had 8 suspects. Neighbouring Ikoyi and Eko Atlantic had 2 and one suspect each. Ikorodu and Alagbado on the Lagos Mainland make up the remainder.
“The suspects are mostly millennials, with 82 of them aged between 25-34 years, which speaks to the fact that most of the individuals arrested are either still in school, recent graduates or university drop outs,” it added
Analysis of the data from the Cyber Crime Section further showed that the dominant form of internet crime is dating scam/online dating scam/romance scam.
The data showed that 64 per cent of individuals arrested are involved in romance scam, followed closely by “middle man scam” and “picking” which account for eight per cent and seven per cent respectively of those arrested.
“The 64 per cent involved in the dating scam benefitted to the tune of N8, 310,000; $349,290; £900; €10 and Cryptocurrency 0.17513.
Other typologies of fraud identified include forgery, possession of fraudulent documents, spamming, credit card fraud, impersonation, rental scam, loan fraud, Business Email Compromise, Hacking, stealing, cheque scam, phishing, and money laundering,” the agency stated.
The data also revealed that gift cards, at 39 per cent, as the prevalent method employed by the suspects to access their illicit funds.
“It is followed by bank transfers at 27 per cent and Cryptocurrency at 21 per cent. A total of $12, 512.49USD was recovered from the e-wallet accounts of four suspects within the period,” it added.
