ABUJA – The Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF-NCCC) has arrested a suspect in connection with identity theft, obtaining by false pretence, money laundering, and a computer-related fraud totalling N5.7 million.
The Acting Police Public Liaison Officer of the NPF-NCCC, DSP Unwana Imah, announced the arrest in a statement on Friday in Abuja. He said the suspect was apprehended following a written petition from a university lecturer based in Akwa Ibom State.
According to Mr Imah, the complainant responded in March to an advertisement for household items on a Facebook “declutter” page operating under the name “SHOPHOUSEHOLDITEMS”. The seller subsequently moved negotiations to WhatsApp, where the complainant was induced to make a total payment of N5.7 million.
Funds were transferred to various fintech bank accounts. After full payment was made, the goods were not delivered, the victim was blocked, and the fraudulent Facebook page was abandoned.
Technical investigation leads to arrest
Upon receipt of the petition, the NPF-NCCC deployed technical assets and, with cooperation from Meta Inc, identified the owner of the account used to host the fraudulent page. The suspect was traced to Katsina State, where he was arrested. The total sum of N5.7 million has since been recovered.
Mr Imah confirmed that the investigation is ongoing and reaffirmed the commitment of the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to combating cybercrime and protecting citizens from online fraudsters.
He advised the public to exercise caution when transacting business on social media platforms, urging potential buyers to verify seller credentials and avoid making significant payments to unverified accounts before inspecting items.