IT looks like any other upmarket suburban house but this is the ‘hustle kingdom’ Nigerian gangs allegedly used to scam ordinary Brits.
Police in the African country nicked an organised crime group who are said to have used the property as a base to run .
Police in Nigeria launched a crackdown on an organised crime group running fake financial investments Credit: Nigeria Police Force
It looks like any other suburban house but was in fact the base of the lucrative scam Credit: Nigeria Police Force
It’s claimed they set up websites that scarily mimicked genuine companies to lure people into sending cash. They are also accused of running a Facebook page with fake testimonials to further convince victims.
The Sun can reveal that it’s alleged the men targeted 500 victims whose personal details were gleaned on the dark web.
The arrests came as officials crack down on organised crime groups who operate from so-called hustle kingdoms – rented house or hotel rooms – where they show off their riches on social media, including designer clothes and expensive watches.
Flashing piles of cash and showing off Mercedes motors and £1,000 Balenciaga trainers, the gangs are proud to
Multiple victims of previous Yahoo Boy scammers, including Scottish teen Daniel Perry, have taken their own life Credit: Deadline News
Dinal De Alwis committed suicide after being tricked into sending naked pictures and then extorted Credit: http://www.justgiving.com
The name was born in the early days of the internet when criminals sent emails to Yahoo accounts in cons which included outlandish claims the victim had inherited millions.
Today the gangs are altogether more experienced and officers from the Nigerian police force’s national cybercrime centre recovered 26 mobile phones, 42 SIM cards and a laptop in the raid.
They worked with the UK’s National Crime Agency – Britain’s version of the FBI – to snare the scammers.
Matthew Perfect, at the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre, said: “There’s a misconception that a fraudster is one person sat in their bedroom with one phone and a laptop but groups like this are established networks with the expertise to commit fraud.
“Nigeria is one of our highest risk global threats when it comes to .
“It’s a country that doesn’t want this sort of reputation and many of its own citizens are also targeted.
“The alleged gang arrested recently was based in a house which had been converted into a makeshift office and had been operating for at least a few months.”
Among those arrested were two brothers – one with a history of deception.
A Nigerian police spokesman said the main suspect expanded his ‘business’ by recruiting and training youngsters, most likely from poor areas.
He said: “He allegedly procured more than 500 social media accounts from online vendors and distributed them among his recruits for coordinated spamming, impersonation and victim engagement.”
Ex Yahoo boy Ramon Abbas lived a life of luxury Credit: instagram
Their glitzy lifestyle makes it easy to recruit younger members into their extortion gangs Credit: instagram
Some Yahoo Boys not only engage in financial scams but, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which monitors emerging online threats, are also behind sextortion blackmail plots.
The shake-down involves tricksters posing as someone else, mainly young women, and persuading youngsters to send intimate images of themselves. They then blackmail the child into sending money to them.
At least three British teens have committed suicide after being by gangs across the globe, including in Nigeria.
Police in Scotland are believed to be working with West African cops after the suicide of 16-year-old Murray Dowey in December 2023.
The teenager, of Dunblane, Perthshire, was tricked into sending an intimate image of himself to someone he thought was a young woman on Instagram. Then the demands for cash started before tragedy struck.
And sadly, Murray is not the only British teen to fall victim to sextortion.
Six years ago, 16-year-old took his own life after being sent two naked pictures of himself by a ruthless extortioner demanding £100 on .
His dad Kaushallya, of Croydon, London, described Dinal as “gifted and gentle” and “the most caring son.”
In 2013, Daniel Perry, 17, of Dunfermline, , jumped from the Forth Road Bridge after sharing compromising Skype messages with someone he thought was an American girl.
After revealing his real identity, Daniel’s blackmailer wrote: “I will make you suffer. Pay up or you’d be better off dead.”
The Internet Watch Foundation has labelled the problem an “epidemic”
Foundation statistics, released last September, show that sextortion cases rose by 72 per cent last year to 153 cases – up from 89 the 12 months before.
Staggeringly, 97 per cent involved young boys.
The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which monitors emerging online threats, said cases involving kids are “accelerating at an alarming rate” as gangs share pre-prepared scripts and tips on sites.
The scammers work from a set script that teaches then how to blackmail Credit: Supplied
Fake pictures make the victims think they are talking to a woman Credit: Supplied
In a far-reaching report, it said Nigerian-based groups were responsible for at least 21 deaths across Europe and America after blackmailing vulnerable teens.
It reads: “Virtually all of the financial sextortion targeting minors today is directly linked to a distributed West African cybercriminal group called the Yahoo boys.
“Their subculture has become part of the internet landscape. These individuals are known for their lavish lifestyles fueled by ill-gotten gains.
“Their subculture is often associated with flaunting wealth, displaying expensive items like cars, designer clothes and jewellery on social media to showcase their success.”
One of Instagram’s biggest fraudsters started life as a Yahoo Boy.
Ramon Abbas, who called himself complete with private jets, ultra-expensive cars and luxury clothes and watches after a series of cyberheists that saw him pocket millions.
The Nigerian influencer, who had 2.4million followers, was jailed for 11 years in Los Angeles in 2022.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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