The United States says more than half of Nigerians in country’s prisons are serving jail terms for fraud and related crime.
The country’s Bureau of Prisons made the disclosure in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Peoples Gazette.
According to the bureau, out of the 134 Nigerians currently in U.S. correctional facilities, those jailed for fraud comprise 61.67 per cent of the total number of Nigerians in U.S. prisons.
In its response, the Bureau said it receives enquiries every day from persons who have been swindled by online contacts masquerading as friends or relatives.
“We receive inquiries every day from people who have been defrauded for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars by Internet contacts they thought were their friends or loved ones,” said the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria. “Internet scams are attempts by con artists to convince you to send them money. In Nigeria, these scams are also referred to as 419 scams
It noted that most common scams involved someone allegedly in Nigeria.
“Inevitably, the sender is making an appeal for money. If this is someone you have not met personally, we urge you to stop corresponding with whoever sent the message, and please do not send any money to Nigeria,” the embassy warned U.S. citizens.
One of the Nigerians sentenced in the U. S. for fraud is Obinwanne ‘Invictus’ Okeke. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for involvement in a cyber fraud that caused about $11 million in losses to his victims. Okeke had operated a group of companies known as the Invictus Group based in Nigeria and elsewhere. From approximately 2015 to 2019, Okeke and others engaged in a conspiracy to conduct various computer-based frauds.