Lekki Now Hotbed Of Cybercrime, 402 Suspects Arrested In 3 Months – EFCC

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.
Analysis of the data from the Cyber Crime Section further
shows that the dominant form of internet crime is Dating
Scam/Online Dating Scam/Romance Scam. Sixty Four
percent (64%) of individuals arrested are involved in
romance scam, followed closely by “Middle Man Scam”
and “Picking” which account for 8% and 7% respectively
of those arrested.
The 64% involved in the dating scam benefitted to the
tune of N8, 310,000; $349,290 USD; £ 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 data also reveals gift cards, at 39%, as the prevalent
method employed by the suspects to access their illicit
funds. It is followed by bank transfers at 27% and
Cryptocurrency at 21%.
A total of $12, 512.49USD was recovered from the e-
wallet accounts of four suspects within the period.