Photo: 24 Year-Old Nigerian Man Duped Husband & Wife Of $42,497

Operatives of the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, in Ikoyi, Lagos,
have arrested a 24-year-old Nigerian man who was said to
have posed as a lady to defraud a United States of America
couple of $42,497, purportedly for the purchase of a property
in Lagos.
In his confession, the crook said:"I posed as Janet on the
Facebook, using a white woman's photograph. I told the
couple that I was an estate manager and convinced them to
buy property in Lagos. Since they have not been to Nigeria,
they asked us to meet elsewhere and when I stumbled on a
business conference that was holding in Malasia, I booked the
meeting.
"On reaching Malaysia, I told a Facebook lady friend to pose
as Janet after telling her what to say. That was how the deal
was struck and they paid the dollar equivalent of N3.4 million
into my account. "I intended to use the money to further my
studies because I am determined to be a graduate. I used part
of the money to travel again to Malaysia for leisure in
August."
The suspect, identified as Olafinraye Adedamola, confessed to
the offence while being paraded on Thursday. According to a
Vanguard report, explaining how the aluminum worker was
arrested, spokesperson for the unit, Ngozi Isintume-Agu, a
Deputy Superintendent of Police, said: "An intelligence report
dated September 24, 2013 from Nigerian Financial
Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Abuja addressed to the
Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit (SFU) alleged
that one Olafinraye Adedamola opened a USD Domiciliary
Account No. 273/6980678251/0 with the Demurin, Ketu,
Lagos Branch of Sterling Bank Plc and through suspicious
circumstances, cumulative sum of USD 42,497 was paid into
the account by unsuspecting victims abroad between August
13, 2013 and September 16, 2013.
"The suspected illicit inflows were followed by immediate
cash withdrawals by the suspect who appeared to have no
known affiliation with the international depositors."SFU
operatives swung into action and investigation carried out on
the domiciliary account revealed that $18,129.92 is still left in
the account and a lien was immediately placed on the
account."The suspect was traced to his house at 7, Agidi
Road, Oshogun, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos but he evaded police
arrest and his father, a proprietor of a moribund driving
school, feigned ignorance of his son's whereabouts. However,
the fleeing suspect was later apprehended by the
Police."Olafinraye Adedamola who posed as a lady named
Janet was born in 1989 in Kosofe LGA Ketu, Lagos."An
artisan who trained in construction of aluminum but currently
a driving instructor in his father's moribund driving school
located in Ketu, Lagos claimed he met a Nigerian at a
conference in Malaysia who introduced him to the victim who
requested that he purchased property for him in Nigeria which
was the basis for the disbursement of the money into his
account and that he had already bought a building at Ogba,
Ikeja for N4 million and that the documents were with him."
Olafinraye Adedamola said, "My regret is that I was caught at
the end because I used my genuine data to open the account. I
guess it was because it is my first time."
The suspect will be charged to court soon.