February 16, (THEWILL) –The rate at which Chinese nationals have become the face of fraudulent activities in Nigeria is not only alarming but also a flip side of the otherwise rewarding official relationship between Nigeria and China, which makes soft loans available for infrastructural production and as well as the services of genuine construction companies.
From alleged crypto currency investment to suspected romance fraud and job scam, the Chinese have increasingly come under scrutiny and arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, since November last year through February this year.
Together with their Nigeria accomplices and in some instance, local foot soldiers, these Chinese suspects have digitised crime and spread their tentacles abroad, using Nigeria as their base, all in clear violation of the country’s laws as clearly stated in Section l8 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act. 2015 (as Amended, 2024) and Section 2 (3) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, for instance..
According to the EFCC, 792 suspected investment and internet fraudsters were arrested by operatives of the EFCC on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. They are members of a syndicate allegedly involved in crypto currency investment and romance fraud. They were arrested in the Big Leaf Building at 7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Between Thursday, January 9, 2025 and February 6, 2025, members of the syndicate were nabbed by the Commission. The leaders of the syndicate of fraudsters with knowledge of digital equipment were Chinese. The first group, specialising in hotel review job scam, targeting mostly victims intending to travel to the United Kingdom, were arrested in their Naka Hall Plaza in Abutu Garba Street, Gudu, Abuja. A total of 105 suspects comprising four Chinese and 101 Nigerians were arrested at the plaza. 100 compact Work Stations were recovered from the suspects.
On Monday, February 3, 2025, the Commission arraigned 29 Chinese, 10 Filipinos, one Malaysian, one Indonesian and one Pakistani before separate Federal High Courts sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
They were arraigned alongside a company, Genting International Co. Ltd., before Justices Ayokunle Faji ; D.I. Dipeolu; Alexander Owoeye and C.J. Aneke, respectively.
The suspects are members of the syndicate of 792 alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects arrested on December 19, 2024, in Lagos during a surprise operation tagged “Eagle Flush Operation” by operatives of the EFCC.
Then on February 6, 2025, the EFCC arraigned nine Chinese and a company, Genting International Co. Ltd., before Justice C.J. Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
This sequence of arrests of cyber fraudsters involving Chinese suspects shows an undesirable trend that should be tackled and eradicated before it blossoms into a monster that will be difficult to handle. Indeed, the elaborate scam involving hotel review jobs says it all.
According to the EFCC, Hotel Review Job Scam is a globally- entrenched Internet- related fraud that is new In Nigeria. It operates with the assistance of the Chinese who usually recruit local and computer-savvy Nigerians as Customer Service Representatives.
The Representatives are made to work on a prepared template of criminality online. They are given identities and names usually foreign, through which they chat with expatriates.
The crime involves making false representation to victims to win their trust to engage in hotel ratings with promises of $5 for every hotel that is reviewed. As the victims get paid, they are encouraged to review more hotels and the payment is increased to $10 per rating.
After a long while, the victim is encouraged to make bookings in any of the rated hotels for as much as $500 and that the company would pay back with chunky interest into a crypto wallet bearing their names. After making bookings, the victim would not be able to open the wallet and his or her money is lost.
The fraud is an intricate mechanism of defrauding foreigners and it is targeted at victims in Europe and other parts of the world.
It is good to note that the Commission restated that they are working with other law enforcement agencies across the world to dig deeper into the global dimensions of this crime.
Clearly, this new dimension to cybercrime is to the further detriment of the already soiled Nigeria’s global image, due to the general perception that it is a corruption driven country.
Thus, while the Commission is engaged with global partners to deal with this new but ugly face of cyber fraud allegedly perpetrated by the Chinese, it should also ensure that those found implicated are prosecuted, jailed and then deported. These criminal- minded Chinese come from a country that pronounces the death sentence for the same offences they are allegedly committing with impunity in Nigeria. They should not be allowed to use Nigeria as a test ground for their deranged minds.
