The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced the arrest of 792 suspects for cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scams.

EFCC Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this during a briefing at the Commission’s Lagos office on Monday. He revealed that the arrests were made on Tuesday, 10 December 2024, in a coordinated operation at an imposing seven-storey building, Big Leaf, located at No. 7 Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

“The operation followed actionable intelligence and months of surveillance. Among those arrested were 148 Chinese nationals, 40 Filipinos, two Kazakhs, one Pakistani, and one Indonesian,” Uwujaren said.

Investigations revealed that the foreign nationals used the facility – which could easily be mistaken for the corporate headquarters of a financial institution – to train Nigerian accomplices in romance and investment scams, using stolen identities to defraud unsuspecting victims.

“On the fifth floor alone, investigators recovered 500 SIM cards purchased for fraudulent purposes,” Uwujaren noted.

He further explained that the foreign kingpins recruited young Nigerians proficient in computer use, training them to impersonate foreign women in romance scams and lure victims into a cryptocurrency investment scheme through fake business chats on platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram.

“The activation fees for the fake investment platform www.yooto.com start at $35,” he added.

Once victims’ confidence was gained, the foreign operatives took over the defrauding process, blocking their Nigerian accomplices to prevent them from learning details of the transactions.

Uwujaren noted that the recruits had no formal employment contracts and were paid in cash or via personal bank accounts.

Recovered items included desktop computers, mobile phones, laptops, cars, and hundreds of SIM cards. The EFCC is currently collaborating with international partners to determine the full scale of the operation.

“There will be no hiding place for criminals in Nigeria,” Uwujaren concluded.