Olaide Adeleye

aolaide018@gmail.com

Before the invention of technology that brought about the Internet to Africa, the financial fraudsters popularly known as 419-ners were in operation in Nigeria especially in the commercial city of Lagos, Ibadan and some part of states. They were mainly grown-up, educated and illiterate men and women, who specialized in using fax machines to defraud unsuspected foreigners and Nigerians.

Early 90’s, they were the big men and women in the society. They commanded respect because of the enormous wealth at their disposal. Unfortunately for some of them like Emmanuel Nwude, a Nigerian advance-fee fraud artist and former Director of Union Bank of Nigeria. He is known for defrauding Nelson Sakaguchi, a Director at Brazil’s Banco Noroeste based in São Paulo, of $242 million: $191 million in cash and the remainder in the form of outstanding interest, between 1995 and 1998. Nwude and others were arrested by the anti-graft agency, tried and convicted. They lost some of their assets to the anti-graft agency and have since been struggling for survival.

In recent times and with the coming of the Internet system, Nigerian youths, especially undergraduates, have taken to the illicit trade called Internet scam. Investigations reveal that this development is responsible for drastic reduction in cultism in the higher institutions, as it has been overshadowed by widespread cyber fraud.

In my investigations, I discovered that the popularly dubbed Yahoo boys, to perpetrate the crime, often use yahoo free e-mail account. The fraudulent business became prevalent in Nigeria in 2000 with the accessibility of the Internet. Youths who engage in the fraud scam became rich overnight, with or without their parents’ knowledge. They owned expensive cars, houses, jewelleries and more. They are highly respected and often initiate their peers into the scam.

According to Nigerian police statistics, thousands of undergraduates dabble in the Web fraud. A rich yahoo boy is a role model for the youths, they fancy his lifestyle and want to be like him. The only thing that disturbs them is how to make easy and quick money.

No doubt, there are plenty of examples of how to start a yahoo boy career on the Web. Therefore, young people quickly study all the ground rules. The best trick to start with is titled “Web freestyle”. Almost 99 percent of yahoo boys started their careers from this fraud by registering a private account on a popular dating website, fill in their profile, find an attractive photo, and wait till somebody falls in love with them. Subsequently, the victim-lover begins paying their bills and sending dollars to them.

A yahoo boy masters the art of sending fake messages across social networks. It is a little risk field of a yahoo boy specialisation, which can bring real money. Yahoo boys don’t have morality. They usually stop at nothing to deceive people and pocket their money.

In order to be successful in the crime, a yahoo boy, learns how to beg, cry online, call for help in the written form. He does everything to make people believe him. Despite several arrests and convictions over the scam, Nigerian youths have continued to ply the trade in droves both at home and abroad.

Recently, netnaija news reported case of a top social media Influencer, Adedamola Adewale. He was arrested and paraded by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside four other suspects for their alleged involvements in various internet frauds. While Adewale, 20, and his accomplice, Lamina Hamzat Ajibola, were arrested at the Agungi area of Lekki, Lagos State, the trio of Israel Onyebuchi, Emmanuel Olayode and Valentine Nwokorie were picked up at the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State.

During interrogation, Adewale, a self-acclaimed model, who goes by the username @adeherself on Instagram, confessed to being a picker in cybercrimes. He would poses as a lady to hoodwink her foreign “preys”. Items recovered from the suspects include two Toyota Camry 2009 model cars, and a sum of N9,000,000.00 (Nine Million Naira only), which was found in Adewale’s account.”

The other suspects; Onyebuchi, Olayode and Nwokorie were arrested for their alleged involvement in a romance scam. They were arrested during another raid, following a separate intelligence. Investigation revealed that Nwokorie was posing as a female American citizen and sending photos as a porn star to defraud his victim while Onyebuchi was engaging in a love scam as well as forging foreign cheques. Items recovered from the suspects include laptops and mobile phones. According to the EFCC, all the suspects would be arraigned in court as soon as investigations are concluded.

Who are these guys? What are their cunny and illegal ways?

Breeding A Booming Generation of Scammers

Many Nigerian families are happy that their children are attending institutions of higher learning across the country, which is good for them and ultimately the country. But few mind the company they are and the company they keep.

These days, a large number of Nigeria’s dropouts, unemployed youths and undergraduates studying in the country, especially in the southern part, are turning out to be a generation of scammers and Internet fraudsters, known and unknown to their parents.

Unfortunately, this has encouraged many more to join, as those who have ‘made it’ or ‘hit it’ through scam sort of serve as role models in a recessed economy and a society of declining moral latitude, not minding, or rather, realising the bleak future their boom portends.

‘Big Boys’ Moving To Lekki

IN Lagos, those who have hit it big enough are fast relocating to Lekki, where they have houses that offer them some security, just as the environment keeps prying eyes and genuine security agents off their backs. In Lekki, most residents mind their businesses and care less about these rowdy and emerging big boys, so long as they are not “criminals’ or thieves and robbers.

And for these boys, it has become a safe haven, unlike in the less developed areas of the city, where they are constantly harassed for cash by security agents. Once any of them buys a house, his clique virtually relocate with him, of course, for ease of business. Except the law abiding residents take the bull by the horn and work with security operatives, the highbrow Lekki will soon turn to scammers den, not haven, the tide needs be urgently arrested. But how can that be? To evade being caught, the big ones among them who can afford it go for iPhones rather than android phones.

Security Agents In The Know

SUPRISINGLY, the activities of these fraudsters are not unknown to security agents. While the agencies are working to change the narrative, there officials especially the police who effect arrests on the boys do so but for a different reason.

It is not unusual to see policemen in unmarked vehicles occasionally raiding their locations and hideouts. A yahoo boy was boasting that they (yahoo boys) work hand in hand with some policemen and those that are caught or regularly raided are the ones that don’t “settle” them. He added: “We usually settle the Police, so we don’t have any problem. If their demands are getting too much or they want to open shop on our heads, we simply relocate and continue business. According to him, when arrested, they are detained until their cliques come to bail them out for as much as N200,000, depending on their worth. But those innocently arrested or unable to afford the bail stay longer in detention.

Due to constant harassment by security agents, who stop and search youths with bags, especially backpacks, it has become out of place to move about in laptop bags. They are customers of multiple user high-speed Internet providers, especially 4G LTE modems, big or small. And due to irregular power supply, it is commonplace to see them run generators for long hours, in the day or night.

Abeokuta As New Abode For Internet Scammers

Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, is reportedly the new abode of these con men. Investigation reveals that majority of them live in Adigbe, Saraki, Obada-Oko, Elega, Oluwo and Onikoko areas of the town and around the campuses.

While some of them are alleged to be undergraduates of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), a fraction are students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) and Federal College of Education (FCE) Osiele, others are drop- outs that have been either rusticated or dropped out of school, after they have become rich and only hang around campuses as students.

For those in school, they live big on campuses and attend lectures whenever they deem fit, considering that they have the money to buy over lecturers. They are dapper dressers and widely admired by youths. They are treated like kings, ride the best automobiles that cost millions of naira and always dating the most beautiful ladies in town.

A source in Abeokuta, said the fraudsters live together in the afore-mentioned areas in the town. They move together and flaunt their ill-gotten wealth to the admiration of people who celebrate them without questioning the source of their wealth.

Lifestyle Of A Yahoo Boy

Yahoo Yahoo, Yahoo Plus, Wire Wire and Alibaba are the multimillionaire illicit businesses that yield money for undergraduates these days. The Guardian news investigation shows that 90 per cent of students who own exotic cars and live large within and outside campuses are involved in the internet scam.

They are also known as Gee Nigga. A Gee Nigga after his hit only thinks of how to squander money, and celebrate, afterward do shopping get clothes and jeans they can wear for three months without exchanging previous one, get a two-bedroom apartment and a car, mostly Toyota Camry.

However, these guys are students or do apprentice jobs like barbing to cover-up for their dirty jobs. Most times they flock together on the campuses with their car. The lifestyle of a typical Yahoo boy is to spend morning time going to work or school and closing early to visit exotic bars in the evening to spend lavishly. At night, he faces his fraudulent trade since Nigeria’s night is almost morning time abroad.

Internet scam has different styles, grade and procedures. A learner starts with yahoo yahoo, which consist of freestyle or merchant style. This procedure is just to get a celebrity account on the Internet, act like them and post their latest updates to make them real, and toasters are their prey.

While the merchant style always looks for people online who are in need of apartments, exterior and interior equipment in large volumes or cars or anyone in need of any commodity on a large scale. He proposes to them and shows them fake documents online to convince them.

Over time, greed leads them to the upper grade, which pays more, and needs more attention and this drives them to the fetish part of it. Once you accept to upgrade you have to join a pack. That means you have to become a learner again before someone among the bigger boys introduces you to the godfather, a local herbalist.

Wire wire and Alibaba seem to be the hardest and the smartest of all and it is a bigger boys game. This stage of the game prompt any gee nigger who is interested to learn computing so as to be able to understand how to do hacking. It is mostly common among those studying computer science in polytechnics and universities.

Wire wire is hacking into international banks websites to make use of the code on their cheques and take the codes to do withdrawal through their picker. This enables them to get rich faster because they withdraw huge sums of money that can sustain them for years.

Alibaba is just to get information of a particular wealthy foreigner, get their credit card details to make another credit card and use them to order for containers of goods from abroad. So they get their cash from anything that comes from the container when sold.

Slangs common among them include Thugger, a general nickname with a specific handshake, Eke or PAPA AJASCO means police or SARS officers, Hit means they’ve just been paid, Gbenusi means to go paint the club red.

The essence of informing the public on ways, lifestyle and strategies employ by the desperate youths of today is to enable every stakeholder wake from slumber and do the needful. Recently, on social media, there was a video circulating of a young boy that said he wanted to be an Internet fraudster when he gets older. Even on Facebook, they have several networking sites, such as Yahoo Boys, Girls and Guys Association of Money Making Machine, Yahoo Boyz, Yahoo Guys Forum, G Boyz and so on, where they share information and tips, swap war stories, connect and generally glorify criminality.

Sadly, in the comments section, you see youths begging these criminals to show them the way. Some have even published books, manuals and tapes on tips to start the yahoo business, tools needed and where to go, and these are selling like hot cake among the country’s youth.

EXCEPT something drastic is done the next generation of youths appear jinxed, as a large number of their population are engaged in cyber-crimes and other vices. The number is growing at an alarming rate.

Parents and guardian need to do better counsel, monitor their children and wards; give them sound moral and religious training aimed at shaping their lives towards Godly, legal and acceptable ways of life. While government needs to create employment and other opportunities to engage youths possitively; our security agencies on their part are expected to still do more and ensure their officials are doing their lawful assignments without compromise.

Copyright SWAGE NEWS.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from SWAGE NEWS.