The Nigerian anti-corruption agency has apprehended 792 individuals during a surprise raid on a building in the nation’s largest city, believed to be a center for a massive crypto romance scam operation.
The arrests, which took place on December 10 in Lagos, included 148 Chinese and 40 Filipino nationals, according to a spokesperson from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who spoke with Reuters on December 16.
The EFCC spokesperson stated that local accomplices were recruited by foreign leaders to lure potential victims online through phishing tactics, with a focus on primarily targeting individuals from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and various European countries.
Once the Nigerian accomplices gained the trust of their victims, the foreign members would take over the scam and defraud the victims.
The EFCC further explained that the suspects would make contact with their victims through social media, using seduction techniques or offering fake cryptocurrency investment opportunities, and then coerce them into transferring money – a type of scam known as “pig butchering.”
