Earlier this year, and after a far-reaching take-down operation, a major network of global online scammers was finally nabbed! The 3 Nigerian men heading up the operation were extradited from South Africa and have subsequently been convicted of a variety of fraudulent scams resulting in hundreds of years of prison time. After considerable investigation, a total of 21 men residing in South Africa, Nigeria and the US were implicated in the scam.
The trial took almost three weeks and eventually uncovered evidence that the 3 Nigerians had participated in and even instigated scams and schemes that included conspiracy to commit identity theft and online fraud in:
- Online romance
- Re-shipping
- Fraudulent cheques
- Work from home schemes
- Bank and credit card takeovers
In South Africa, the Hawks headed up a 12-month undercover operation investigating this particular cyber-crime network, building up a strong case before any action was taken. After working their way up to the top tier of the network, the Hawks made 11 arrests in South African alone.
While the charges faced by all the criminals involved were extensive, the take-down found that the most prevailing operations were:
- Conspiracy to commit fraud
- Bank fraud
- Conspiracy to commit identity theft
- US government fund theft
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering
According to authorities, the 3 Nigerian men thought to be the head of the operation have been hard at work building a list of victims from as early as 2001. Their main focus was work from home opportunity scams and online dating scams.
How do people get caught out by this kind of cyber-crime?
It’s easier than you might believe to become a victim of this type of cyber-criminal, especially if you are emotionally motivated to find love or money, for instance. Cyber-criminals simply prey on these vulnerabilities, desires or insecurities and find ways to extract banking and/or personal information. Data retrieved can then be used to fraudulently purchase goods online.
In South Africa, victims of work from home scams were often asked to repackage items and send them on to SA where they would be sold and distributed by the network to realise a profit.
Some tips to ensure that you don’t become a victim
- Never ever give out any information online unless you have established the security of person you are conversing with.
- If online money-earning opportunities sound too good to be true – they are too good to be true.
- Never pay money over to someone that you meet on an online dating site.
Make sure that you are very careful about what you share and with who online. It’s the only way to ensure that you don’t fall victim to precisely this type of scam.