The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) has arrested nine suspects over alleged online investment fraud, romance scams, sextortion, identity theft and money laundering targeting victims in several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
The operations, which involved international law enforcement agencies, uncovered suspected criminal networks accused of using fake identities, fraudulent investment websites, artificial intelligence-generated voices and cryptocurrency wallets to defraud victims and move illicit funds across borders.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the NPF-NCCC, Akaniyene Ezima, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the arrests and investigations in Abuja.
He said the operations were conducted in collaboration with foreign law enforcement agencies, including the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, known as the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA).
According to Ezima, the investigations uncovered three separate cases involving suspected transnational cybercrime networks operating from different locations in Nigeria.
Four arrested over fake investment platforms
In the first case, Ezima said intelligence provided by the UK National Crime Agency led investigators to a suspected online investment fraud network allegedly operating from Agbor and Okpanam in Delta State.
He explained that the intelligence indicated that social media accounts linked to the network were being used to target victims in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and other countries through fraudulent investment schemes.
Following coordinated investigations and digital forensic analysis, police operatives arrested four suspects in October 2026.
They were identified as Ojei Divine, Godwin Umerin, Edema Bright and Peter Kpamichukwu Okoh.
Ezima said preliminary investigations showed that the suspects allegedly used fictitious identities on social media and messaging platforms to gain the confidence of unsuspecting victims and lure them into fraudulent financial schemes.
One of the suspects, Ojei Divine, allegedly impersonated professional investment traders and operated multiple Facebook accounts, including one bearing the identity Mariana Coman.
He reportedly redirected victims from online chat groups to websites presented as legitimate investment platforms, including andescapitalgrouplc.com, navidargroupllc.com and stockbase.com.
The websites allegedly offered investment opportunities in foreign exchange, cryptocurrency and oil and gas, with victims encouraged to deposit money into wallets controlled by the suspect and his associates.
According to the police, Divine admitted to moving proceeds from different cryptocurrency wallet addresses associated with victims in various countries.
The wallets reportedly included Revolut and Trust Wallet for European victims and Coinbase for victims in the United States.
Cryptocurrency analysis of one wallet allegedly controlled by the suspect identified 21 approved transactions valued at $21,150. Investigators recovered cryptocurrency assets worth $15,900, which have been secured in a custodial wallet.
Another suspect, Godwin Umerin, allegedly admitted to creating several Facebook accounts used to defraud victims. Police said he was linked to a case involving an Indonesian citizen who reportedly paid seven million Indonesian rupiah through an account supplied by a suspected money mule.
Edema Bright, identified as a 300-level student of Delta State University, was accused of engaging in sextortion and cryptocurrency fraud targeting people in Australia, the UK, the US, Canada and other countries.
Ezima said Bright allegedly posted online hookup advertisements and communicated with respondents through a WhatsApp account registered with a US telephone number.
The suspect also allegedly used the online platform Clubhouse to persuade victims to invest in Bitcoin, claiming that the cryptocurrency could be purchased at lower prices and sold at higher rates.
Investigators further accused him of impersonating Galaxy Digital chief executive Michael Novogratz, using photographs obtained from Pinterest as profile images to conceal his identity.
The fourth suspect, Peter Kpamichukwu Okoh, 27, was described as a website developer who operated an unregistered web development business known as 360 Web Tech.
Police said Okoh advertised his services on Instagram and TikTok through accounts bearing the usernames 360_webtech and 360_webtech02.
Preliminary investigations allegedly revealed that he developed websites for healthcare, investment and online banking services, including banking platforms designed to give administrators control over deposits, withdrawals and other functions.
According to Ezima, Okoh admitted to developing six websites allegedly used by scammers to carry out fraudulent activities.
Police recovered 36 mobile devices, three internet routers and other items during the operation. The exhibits are undergoing forensic examination.
Two arrested over romance scams targeting Canadians
In the second case, the NPF-NCCC worked with the RCMP and Germany’s BKA to investigate a suspected romance fraud network that allegedly targeted elderly Canadian residents between 2020 and 2024.
Ezima said intelligence supplied by the Canadian police revealed that members of the network allegedly created fictitious identities on social media and messaging platforms to establish romantic relationships with victims.
After gaining their trust, the suspects allegedly requested money under various pretences, including business investments, financial assistance and loans they promised to repay.
In one case, a victim was reportedly deceived by a suspect posing as a US military physician named William Barabash.
The impersonator allegedly provided the victim with login details for a fake banking website identified as CB Reserve Bank, which displayed a purportedly substantial bank balance under the physician’s name.
The victim subsequently transferred more than 200,000 Canadian dollars between 2020 and 2022, according to the police.
Investigators traced the transactions to Uka Chidiebere Gerald, 32, who allegedly used his wife’s email address and telephone number, with her consent, to open a Binance wallet through which funds were laundered.
The police said the wallet was linked to the movement of 1,684,441 USDT, a cryptocurrency token designed to maintain a value equivalent to the US dollar.
A second victim was allegedly induced to transfer cryptocurrency worth CA$214,000 and make an additional wire transfer of CA$3,000.
The digital assets were deposited into two Bitcoin wallet addresses reportedly traced to Kenneth Ufuophu, 30.
Ezima said the funds were subsequently laundered through suspected money mules and entities, including Tears of Joy Ltd in the United Kingdom and Henryford Services Inc.
Investigators also identified transactions involving several jurisdictions, including Canada, the US, Nigeria, Turkey and Kenya.
The police said five victims had so far been identified, with documented financial losses suffered by just two of them exceeding CA$417,000.
Further investigations traced aspects of the transactions to Nigeria, leading to the arrest of Gerald and Ufuophu in Delta State.
Two mobile devices and two laptops were recovered and are undergoing forensic examination.
Three arrested over Elon Musk impersonation
In the third operation, police arrested three suspects in Lekki, Lagos State, on October 14, 2026, following cyber threat intelligence supplied by the UK National Crime Agency.
The suspects were identified as Adebayo Adewale Basit, Omoregie Christian and Adebayo Ibrahim.
According to Ezima, preliminary investigations indicated that the suspects allegedly operated fake social media accounts to impersonate celebrities and other prominent personalities in order to deceive victims into transferring money.
Basit, 23, was specifically accused of impersonating Tesla chief executive Elon Musk through email accounts and social media and messaging platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Zangi, Telegram and X.
The police alleged that he used artificial intelligence voice cloning and deepfake technology to make the impersonation more convincing.
The activities reportedly targeted victims in several countries, particularly the US and UK.
Investigators also linked the suspects to alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency investment activities involving a platform known as Bitcoin Trading Hub, which operated through the website bitcointradinghub.org.
Ezima said the suspects confessed to involvement in the alleged offences during investigations.
Items recovered included five iPhones, a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone, an iPad, a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet and three internet routers.
Other exhibits included a webcam, a PlayStation 5 console with two controllers, a portable uninterruptible power supply, a charging adapter, two MTN SIM cards, three gold-plated necklaces, two wristwatches and two vehicle registration plates.
Police also recovered two suspected cannabis crushers, a digital precision scale and rolling papers.
The recovered electronic devices are undergoing forensic examination to establish the extent of the alleged criminal activities, identify victims, trace suspected proceeds of crime and determine whether other individuals were involved.
The three suspects remain in police custody as investigations continue.
Police promise further arrests
Ezima expressed concern over the growing use of deceptive online relationships, fraudulent investment schemes, identity impersonation and cryptocurrency transactions to exploit public trust and conceal the proceeds of crime.
He said tackling cybercrime required intelligence-led policing, advanced digital forensic capabilities, timely information sharing and sustained cooperation between Nigerian and international law enforcement agencies.
According to him, the NPF-NCCC will continue to strengthen its investigative capacity and partnerships under the leadership of the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu.
The centre also said it was working with its international partners to identify other members of the suspected networks, trace illicit financial flows and facilitate the recovery of proceeds of crime.
The police said the recovered digital devices remained subject to forensic examination, while investigations were ongoing to establish the full extent of the alleged offences.
The suspects in the cases are expected to be arraigned before courts of competent jurisdiction after the completion of investigations and necessary prosecutorial procedures.
The allegations have not been established in court, and the suspects are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
