Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 792 suspects during a December 10, 2024 raid on a Lagos-based building believed to be the hub of a crypto-romance scam targeting victims worldwide.
The seven-storey Big Leaf Building housed a call center operated by both local and foreign fraudsters. Among those detained were 148 Chinese and 40 Filipino nationals. The EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, revealed that victims, primarily from the Americas and Europe, were targeted via social media platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram.
The scam involved luring individuals through romance or false investment opportunities before pressuring them into transferring money for fake cryptocurrency schemes. Nigerian accomplices first gained victims’ trust before handing over communication to foreign fraud masterminds.
The EFCC, collaborating with international partners, seized computers, phones, and vehicles during the operation and is investigating links to organized crime.
