Hyderabad: Cybercrime police bust fake online gift racket, arrest Nigerian national

Hyderabad: Hyderabad cyber crime police have busted a fake online gift racket and arrested a 42-year-old Nigerian national from New Delhi.

Identified as Onuigbo Chibuzo Godwin alias Bobby, he used to maintain fake bank accounts, SMS alert mobile numbers, and share information with prime accused Sequro and Okwuchukwu who are based in Nigeria.

They were cheating innocent people in the name of sharing costly gifts. The arrested accused used to receive 20% of the credited amount as his share.

Police said Bobby in association with Bakayoko Lassina, an Ivoirienne National, and Shoma Purkayastha alias Shoma Prasad Purkayastha of Meghalaya cheated a victim to the tune of Rs. 1.22 crore on the instructions of Sequro and Okwuchukwu.

Police said the modus operandi of the accused included creating fake Facebook profiles and posing as US and UK nationals. They used to send friend requests to Indians of the opposite sex. Later after becoming friends, they used to chat over Whatsapp numbers.

“After a few days of chatting, they would gain the confidence of Facebook friends. Later, they used to tell the victims that they are going to send costly gifts, jewelry, etc. They used to contact the victims and pose as officials from the customs department. They used to collect money in the name of RBI charges, customs, GST, and other charges. They convinced the victims to deposit money in given fake bank accounts,” police said.

Police said in February, they arrested two accused, Bakayoko Lassina, and Shoma Purkayastha, and sent them to judicial custody. Nigerian mastermind Bobby was arrested recently.

Police have seized laptops, mobile phones, SIM cards, bank passbooks, and debit cards from his possession.