TheCable

The South African police service says eight persons have been arrested for their alleged involvement in internet scam and money laundering.

The suspects, said to have ties to a crime syndicate in Nigeria, were arrested in a joint operation involving security operatives in South Africa and the United States of America.

The South African police, in a statement on Tuesday, said the suspects targeted widows and divorcees through romance scams.

A total of 100 million South African rand was said to have been estimated as the amount stolen from the victims.

“Eight (8) suspects aged between 33 to 52 were arrested for Internet scams, money laundering and international-wide scale financial fraud in Cape Town in joint operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI), United State Secret Service(USSS) Investigations, Interpol and with assistance from the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit, Crime Intelligence(CI), K9, National Intervention unit, Special Task Force (STF), Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS), Criminal Record Centre and Cape Town Metro police,” the statement reads.

“The operation was initiated based on the Mutual Legal Assistance from Central Authorities of the United States of America that was approved by the Republic of South Africa.

“All suspects were arrested during a large-scale operation in the early morning hours of today and will be charged with a variety of financial crimes, including conspiracy to commit wire/mail fraud/mail and money laundering. The suspects in this investigation are alleged to have ties to a transnational organized crime syndicate originating in Nigeria.

“It is alleged that these suspects allegedly preyed on victims, many of whom are vulnerable widows or divorcees who were led to believe that they were in a genuine romantic relationships but were scammed out of their hard earned money. The suspects used social media websites, online dating websites to find and connect with their victims. Other modus operandi used by the suspects includes business email compromise, where email accounts are diverted in order to change banking details. They assumed fake names and trolled dating sites.

“Once they had ingratiated themselves with their victims, they allegedly concocted sob-stories about why they needed money – i.e., taxes to release an inheritance, essential overseas travel, crippling debt, etc. – and then siphoned money from victim’s accounts to the amount of 100 million rand.

“The crimes allegedly committed by the suspects hit close to home. Neighbours, parents, friends and family would be targets of this organization. The fraudsters intimidated and berated their victims, ruined their lives and then disappeared. We are confident that this investigation will have a significant impact on this region and beyond.

“The FBI estimates that more than 100 people lost more than R100 million in romance scams from 2011 till to date.”