By Ese Ologe (Corps member)
Daniel (25) is a secondary school dropout. He calmly introduced himself as an ex-convict. He was convicted in 2018, by a Lagos State High Court on charges bothering on fraud. He has today taken to selling female accessories at Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State. He was jailed for six months with an option of fine (in the sum of N100, 000) after being found guilty. He was convicted of defrauding a businesswoman. Daniel, who now feels remorseful over his past life as a yahoo boy, said that he was introduced into cybercrime by a close friend, who was also a former classmate. According to him, there was a time he used to think that internet scam, otherwise known as, “Yahoo Yahoo,’ was the quickest route to becoming rich and successful. He revealed that since his journey to prison, he has changed his lyrics. He, however, decided to share his experience in the world of cybercrime. Daniel said: “Cybercrimes involve several schemes like online dating, which involves using different online pictures of models to attract people. The pictures are for targeted victims and the sender, although a male, pretends to be a female while he is online, chatting with the target.” Daniel continues: “Once a victim gets attracted to you, you begin to sweet-talk her and try to make her to fall in love with you. The whole idea is to trick her into parting with money. For instance, if you are posing as a ‘beautiful lady,’ you would be looking for rich men. If you are posing as a male, you would be hunting for rich women. Another type is called military fraud. In military fraud, we pretend to be military personnel, working in a country like Iraq or Afghanistan. We usually pick war torn countries. “The yahoo guy pretends to be suffering; he’ll send pictures of a soldier to target victims. Sometimes, the hunter pretends to be trapped in the war country, looking for money to return home. I must say at this stage that the desperation to be among the so called ‘Big boys,’ has dragged many Nigerian youths into many criminal activities, especially internet fraud. The hunger to acquire material wealth at all cost and by any means, has become the driving force for both employed and unemployed youths. It has also been discovered that most graduates, who do not get employments on time, end up embracing internet fraud. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, established in 2003 for the sole aim of investigating financial crimes such as Advance Fee Fraud (419) and Money Laundering, has arrested more than a thousand youths over their involvement in cybercrimes. For most of these young folks, the desperation to acquire wealth is the major factor for going into cybercrimes. It has also become one of the highest crimes committed by young Nigerians, who are supposed to be future leaders of tomorrow. It is like a safety net for jobless youths today in Nigeria. Cybercrimes increase every year with a new scope of scam messages. To curb this form of crimes, the government needs to come up with stringent laws. Everyone should also be alert and careful on releasing information. Every Nigerian should be security conscious, so that they don’t fall victims to internet fraudsters. The negatives effect of cybercrime is bad enough to cripple a nation’s economy. Daniel further said: “Yahoo boys, who were drawn by greed, usually employ spiritual powers. They consult voodoo doctors to boost their successes on the web. They use spiritual means in getting fast responses from their ‘clients’ without thinking of the implications. As for Yahoo Plus, if I want to go further in this business, if the clients are not responding or appears not ready to play ball, the yahoo boy goes to a voodoo doctor. The witch doctor helps him to ensure the client’ pays. After getting the charms and using it, the client will just start sending money without getting tired. “We have local and international Yahoo Yahoo. Local Yahoo deals with scamming people in your country, while International Yahoo entails defrauding those outside your country. The most common is the International Yahoo, where white people fall victims. “Let’s talk about yahoo boys that steal female panties and used condoms. Most prostitutes fall victims because they are targets. If a yahoo boy uses a lady’s pant for ritual, she automatically becomes barren or sick. She will become sick and gradually dies.” Asked how Yahoo boys celebrate getting money off victims, Daniel responded: “We host parties in hotels. Most of my friends stay in hotels for six months because staying in one place could cause policemen to carry out raid. Many yahoo boys live in hotels. Parties are done almost every day. Once we get money, we buy drinks, flirt with ladies, buy flamboyant cars and go to clubs to spend money.” Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, said the Agency was on a nationwide sensitisation campaign against the menace. He disclosed that cyber security has attracted the attention of governments, enterprises, groups and individuals, owing to the myriad of potentials for business growth, national security and sovereignty. The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu admitted that cybercrime was costing Nigeria’s economy over N127 billion yearly.
First Published 2019
