Nigerian romance scammer who convinced Aussie to send him $60,000 is caught

A Nigerian online romance scammer will have to repay his Australian victim $60,000 after his lies finally caught up with him.

Ogenevowero Emefeke, 37, was arrested on May 22 by the Nigeria Police – National Cyber ​​Crimes Center after an international operation involving South Australian police.

Emefeke from the capital Abuja is accused of running a complex scam in which he set up fake online accounts and impersonated famous celebrities.

He then approached his targets through social media and gained their trust over weeks and months by “playing on their emotions to rob them of their resources.”

Nigerian police officers arrested Emefeke after receiving “useful information” from SA police.

Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the Australian victim’s money will be returned.

“The suspect openly admitted in a written statement during police interrogation that he committed the 2021 fraud and several others,” said Mr Adejobi.

“Investigations further revealed that the victims are mostly vulnerable men and women desperate for emotional comfort and fame.”

He warned the public to “be cautious in entering into business and relationships with persons whose real identities have not been physically verified.”

Emefeke will be charged upon completion of the investigation.

Nigeria has long been known as a hotbed for online scammers – especially romance scams and ‘419’ or Nigerian Prince scams.

A 2012 research paper from Microsoft analyzed data and showed that more than half of all email scams that year originated in the country.

But in recent years, other African countries, along with Eastern European and Asian countries, have seen a huge increase in fraudsters seeking to defraud victims with even more bizarre and inconvenient drawbacks.

According to Scamwatch, Australians have lost more than $190 million to scams this year alone.