Six Nigerians have been arrested in India for defrauding hundreds of people through text messages and emails.
According to news reports from India, the six Nigerians: Yoha Fred Jihan, 33; Tovy Evaka, 34; Yehike Enavhoro, 25; Amadin Jefferi, 31; Jarvis Nosa Lavani, 34; and Thiofelis Edemudia, 32, are in India on business visas.
They had managed to obtain many legal documents such as driving licences in their names and had signed several legal documents such as lease documents.
They were arrested in Mumbai last month and a raid on their three flats yielded 14 laptops, 15 data cards, seven pen drives, 23 mobile phones, printer, laptop cards, various forged documents of the Indian Customs, the Reserve Bank of India and foreign courts, and government and private company documents.
“The arrested are all residents of Mumbai. They stayed here at Aarey Colony [a high brow part of Mumbai]. All of them are in their late 20s or early 30s,” Mumbai’s Joint Commissioner of Police, Himanshu Roy, said at a press conference in Mumbai last Monday.
“These people have software generating e-mail ids [identities] and mobile numbers. They would randomly select them and send thousands of SMSs and e-mails every day,” Mr. Roy said.
A prize money scam message typically reads that a person has won ?1 million through a lucky draw lottery from Coca Cola or ICC Cricket World Cup.
“When the person showed interest, these people used to send him forged certificates and documents with his name and address which said the amount had been awarded to him,” he said.