Nigerian Conman Arrested For Internet Love Scam

A spate of Internet love scams was reported to the Police in 2011. In these cases, the male culprits, believed to be foreigners, befriended the female victims through online dating and social networking sites.

Over time, the culprits developed a ‘love’ relationship with their victims with promises of visits to Singapore.

On their supposed date of arrival, they would contact the victims and inform them that they had been detained at the Checkpoint and ask the victims to remit monies to specified bank accounts to secure their release.

Through painstaking investigations, intelligence probes and with the collaboration of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), the Airport Police Division managed to establish the identity of a culprit. On 9 April 2012, a 32-year-old Nigerian man was arrested by the RMP in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia. He was extradited to Singapore on 11 April 2012 .

The suspect will be charged in Court on 13 April 2012 for an offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. A court order will also be sought to remand him for further investigations.

DAC Sam Tee, Commander Airport Police Division, expressed his gratitude to the RMP for the excellent co-operation and assistance rendered to the Singapore Police in effecting the arrest. He also commended his officers for their painstaking investigations into the cases.

The Police would also like to remind the public to remain vigilant against such scams. They should

Inform the Police immediately if anyone attempts to extort money from you;

• Be wary of messages from unknown people who want to befriend you;
• Exercise caution when dealing with unknown persons “befriended” through the Internet.
• Do not remit or transfer money to people whom you do not know well enough. The criminal may spend months building rapport with you online before asking for money;
• Do not accede to any request that may put you in a vulnerable positions, such as performing compromising acts in front of the webcam, or give personal details about yourself when interacting with other internet users; and
• If you receive any message or call from anyone claiming he/she is in some kind of trouble overseas and need you to urgently send money over, you should report the matter to Police and not transfer the money.

ORIGINAL SOURCE
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