EFCC Names Lekki ‘Hotbed Of Cybercrime’, Arrests 402 Suspects In 3 Months

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has tagged Lekki area of Lagos State as the ‘hotbed of cybercrime in Nigeria’.

The Agency’s via its facebook page on Friday said that Lekki, the fast-developing upper-middle-class area of Lagos Metropolis, is emerging as the new hub of internet-related fraud.

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It stated that 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.

“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.

“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.

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“Ajah accounted for 24 suspects, while Oniru and Sango-Tedo 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,” it said.

The report shows that 82 of those arrested are between the ages of 25 years and 34 years.

It said this shows that most of the individuals arrested are either still in school, recent graduates or university drop outs.

The Agency stated that the figure showed that 64 per cent of individuals arrested are involved in romance scam, followed closely by ‘Middle Man Scam’ and ‘Picking’ which account for eight per cent and seven per cent respectively.

“The 64% involved in the dating scam benefitted to the tune of N8, 310,000; $349,290 USD; £ 900; €10 and Cryptocurrency 0.17513.

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Other types of fraud identified during the period 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.

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