The Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF-NCCC) said it has arrested a suspect over identity theft, obtaining by false pretence, money laundering, and a N5.7 million computer-related fraud.

The Acting Police Public Liaison Officer of NPF-NCCC, DSP Unwana Imah, said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

Mr Imah said that the suspect was arrested following a written petition from an Akwa Ibom-based university lecturer.

He said that the complainant, in March, responded to an advertisement for household items on a Facebook “declutter” page operated under the name “SHOPHOUSEHOLDITEMS”.

“The seller moved negotiations to WhatsApp, where the complainant was induced to make a total payment of N5.7 million.

“Funds were transferred to various fintech bank accounts and after full payment was made, the goods were not delivered, the victim was blocked, and the fraudulent Facebook page abandoned.

“Upon receipt of the petition, NPF-NCCC, through technical assets and cooperation from Meta Inc, identified the owner of the account that was used to host the fraudulent page,” he explained.

He added that the suspect was traced to Katsina State where he was arrested and the total sum was recovered.

Mr Imah said that investigation into the case was ongoing and pledged the commitment of the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Olatunji Disu, to combating cybercrime and protecting citizens from online fraudsters.

He enjoined the public to exercise caution when transacting businesses on social media platforms by verifying seller credentials and not making significant payments to unverified accounts before seeing the items.

 (NAN)