By Desire Emmanuel
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, April 9, arrested 31 persons in a sting operation at an ‘internet fraud academy’ situated in Becki Estate, Karu, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The 31 persons, comprising 29 internet fraud trainees and two trainers, were busted while the trainees were undergoing internet fraud tutorials by the two young men said to have been deeply involved in defrauding victims, mostly foreigners.
Items recovered from them at the point of their arrest included phones, 18 laptop computers and other gadgets.
According to the anti graft agency in a statement on Thursday, investigation by its operatives revealed that some of the trainees were lured all the way from Benue State with the promise of job offers by the owners of the ‘Yahoo Academy,’ who are said to be currently at large.
However, upon settling down at the facility, the trainees were handed communication devices, computers and software, setting the stage for their training in cyber fraud.
The agency further discovered that in order to enforce compliance and dedication, the proprietors housed the recruits in the academy and restricted their movements strictly within the perimeters of the facility and forcibly took possession of their mobile phones, thus totally cutting them off from the outside world.
Furthermore, it was discovered that corporal punishment was the order of the day in the academy, with heavy-handed physical assault meted out to those of the trainees who were seen to be recalcitrant.
They have given more useful information to the operatives and they are expected to be charged to court at the conclusion of the investigations into their fraudulent activities.
