11 Filipinos jailed in Nigeria
LAGOS—A Nigerian court jailed 15 foreigners, including 11 Filipinos, after they pleaded guilty to “cyberterrorism and internet fraud,” the Nigerian antigraft agency said on Friday.
Aside from the 11 Filipinos, the court also sentenced two Chinese, one Malaysian and one Indonesian to one year in prison and a fine of one million naira (about $630), said Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesperson Dele Oyewale.
They were accused of recruiting young Nigerians for “identity theft and to hold themselves out as persons of foreign nationality.”
“The judges also ordered that the devices recovered from the convicts be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria,” Oyewale said.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is saddled with a reputation for internet fraudsters known in local slang as “Yahoo Boys.”
The EFCC has busted several hideouts where young criminals learn their scams.
Cybercrime experts also warn that foreign “cybercrime syndicates” have set up shop in the country to exploit its weak cybersecurity systems.
The Philippine government has also reported an increasing number of Nigerians arrested in the country.
Since the 1960s, the Philippines has been hosting thousands of Nigerians (about 8,000 in 2014), many of whom are students or professionals now married to Filipinos.
Phishing scams
Last year, Philippine law enforcers arrested a total of nine Nigerians, plus their Filipino accomplices, in three separate incidents.
In 2018, authorities arrested 13 Nigerians and their Filipino accomplices, in an online scamming operation in Imus, Cavite.
The EFCC said foreign gangs recruited Nigerian accomplices to find victims online through phishing scams, in which attackers typically try to deceive victims into transferring them money or revealing sensitive information such as passwords.
The scams target mostly Americans, Canadians, Mexicans and Europeans, the agency said.
In December, the EFCC arrested 792 suspects in a single operation in the affluent Victoria Island area of Lagos.
At least 192 of the suspects were foreign nationals—148 of them Chinese, the agency said.
Dozens of other Chinese suspects are also standing trial for similar crimes.
