Internet fraud dominated arrests made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2024, with 2,588 cases recorded, according to data from Statisense, Nigeria’s data consulting firm.
The statistics provide a comprehensive breakdown of crime categories tackled by the EFCC, ranging from fraud and currency racketeering to illegal mining and forex violations, reflecting the agency’s ongoing battle against economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.
Fraud follows with 815 arrests, showing its prevalence in various sectors. Currency racketeering accounts for 168 arrests, reflecting concerns over illegal currency trading. Illegal mining, with 127 arrests, revealing ongoing exploitation of natural resources.
Forex speculators (39 arrests) and illegal BDC operators (18 arrests) reveal foreign exchange vulnerabilities. Impersonation and naira abuse, with 7 arrests each, point to identity-related and monetary misconduct. Illegal dealings in solid minerals and currency fraud, both with 4 arrests, highlight niche economic violations.
Employment scams (3 arrests), counterfeiting (2 arrests), and isolated cases of bank hacking, money laundering, and a death threat against the EFCC chair show the agency’s wide focus on combating diverse crimes. The data showed internet fraud’s dominance and the EFCC’s multifaceted approach to crime in Nigeria.
Read also: EFCC busts hotel review job scam syndicate in Abuja, arrests 105 suspects
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, acting on intelligence on emerging internet crimes involving foreigners, on January 9, 2025 broke syndicate of fraudsters specialising in hotel review job scam, targeting mostly United Kingdom victims.
They arrested 105 suspects comprising four Chinese and 101 Nigerians at Naka Hall Plaza in Abutu Garba Street, Gudu, Abuja. 100 compact Workstations were recovered from the suspects.
How the Fraud Works:
Hotel Review Job Scam is a globally- entrenched internet-related fraud that is newly appearing on the Nigerian space.
The modus operandi involves Chinese who usually recruit local and computer-savvy Nigerians as customer service representatives.
The representatives are made to work on a prepared template of criminality online. They are given identities and names usually foreign, through which they chat with expatriates. The crime involves making false representation to victims to win their trust to engage in hotel ratings with promises of $5 for every hotel that is reviewed. As the victims get paid, they are encouraged to review more hotels and the payment is increased to $10 per rating. After a long while, the victim is encouraged to make bookings in any of the rated hotels for as much as $500 and that the company would pay back with chunky interest into a crypto wallet bearing their names. After making bookings, the victim would not be able to open the wallet and his or her money is lost.
The fraud is an intricate mechanism of defrauding foreigners and it is targeted at victims in Europe and other parts of the world.
“We are working with other law enforcement agencies across the world to dig deeper into the global dimensions involved in this crime,” a statement from EFCC said.
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