How Nigeria’s cyber fraudsters have become role models

Arrested for cyber fraud: Obinwanne Okeke at TEDxYaba forum in 2018: speaking on DNA of business

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US has indicted 80 people – 77 of them Nigerians – in what it describes as the “largest case of online fraud in US history”.

But most shocking for Nigerians was the separate arrest of their internationally celebrated business tycoon, Obinwanne Okeke.

The head of Nigeria’s Invictus Group, which has interests in sectors ranging from agriculture to real estate, he was named by the respected Forbes magazine in 2016 as one of its 30 top African entrepreneurs aged under 30.

Now Mr Okeke – or Invictus Obi as he is popularly known – is accused by the US authorities of stealing $AU14.6m in one online scam alone.

He pleaded not guilty in court last week, and was remanded in custody.

Biblical links

The FBI publicises similarly sensational busts every few years, often followed by swift convictions and impressive jail sentences.

Yet this does little to deter more Nigerian men from involvement in what has been revealed as a widening network of global cyber fraud.

When Nigerians first attained notoriety in the 1990s for defrauding Westerners of millions of dollars, the scams became known as 419 after the section of the Nigerian penal code which tackles such crimes.

“This is double damage on every citizen of Nigeria,” said presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, following the arrest of Mr Okeke and the other Nigerians indicted.

“It is a big scar on all of us who go out of this country and are seen in this image that these our brothers have created,” he added.

If convicted, Mr Okeke faces up to 30 years in jail, experts say. His court case will resume in February 2020.

Nigerians are particularly worried that the scams might hamper international recognition of the country’s young entrepreneurs, and the granting of visas to those with legitimate business interests in the US.

There is also that part of some Nigerians that cannot help but admire these young scammers – the ingenuity and audacity that enables them to swipe, with ease, millions of dollars from American neuroscientists, British CEOs and German scholars.

Imagine if these young criminals had better role models and opportunities. Imagine how much they could contribute to the advancement of humankind.

Online safety advice

Criminals who commit romance fraud trawl through profiles and piece together information such as wealth and lifestyle, in order to manipulate their victims

Police can investigate and help to provide support, but often cannot get the money back

It is very simple for fraudsters to cover their tracks by masking IP addresses and using unregistered phone numbers

Never send money to someone online you have never met

Think twice about posting personal information which could be used to manipulate or bribe you