The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime said its operatives had arrested a suspect over $597,000 in romance fraud.

Police spokesman ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said this at a news conference on Thursday in Abuja.

Adejobi said the suspect was arrested for allegedly defrauding a female American national of $597,000 in an online love romance.

He said the suspect, arrested following a well-coordinated intelligence operation, had fraudulently assumed the identity of an American, using a fake name, to deceive and exploit unsuspecting victims, primarily women in online romance scams.

He said the suspect, arrested over identity theft, computer-related fraud and money laundering, had confessed to defrauding Deborah Woods, an American national, of $597,000.

The police spokesman said a search of the suspect’s premises led to the confiscating of multiple electronic gadgets used to perpetrate illicit activities.

Mr Adejobi said eight BMW vehicles, suspected to be proceeds of the crime, recovered from the suspect were currently in police custody as exhibits while efforts were ongoing to trace and identify other victims.

In a related development, Mr Adejobi said operatives of the NPF-NCCC had also arrested two suspects in connection with the creation and distribution of compromised financial accounts.

The police spokesman said the suspects had used the accounts to facilitate fraudulent transactions of over N400 million. According to him, investigations revealed that an unidentified foreign cybercriminal had recruited the suspects via Telegram.

He said the duty of the first suspects was to create Moniepoint financial profiles using pre-registered SIM cards and email addresses and distribute them to local accomplices across different states for Know Your Customer verification.

Mr Adejobi said the second suspect distributes the KYC verifications for the compromised accounts and fraudulently obtains Bank Verification Numbers and KYC details from individuals within his community.

He said the suspect uses the identities to upgrade the accounts to Tier 5 verification.

Mr Adejobi said the Nigeria Police Force, in January, arrested a total of 84 suspects over cyber-related offences.

He said 32 suspects were arrested through the NPF-NCCC, while 52 were arrested by the Police Special Fraud Unit in Lagos.

Mr Adejobi attributed the successes to the Action Plan and the zeal of the inspector general of police, Kayode Egbetokun, to redeem the reputation of Nigeria.

(NAN)