Tobias Sylvester
A 32-year-old Nigerian man simply identified as Morgan has been arrested for defrauding an unsuspecting pastor in India of over Rs 24 lakh (N12,385,403.19) in a COVID-19 related scam.
Morgan was accused of duping one Pastor Moses of Banjara Hills by posing as a humanitarian wishing to help victims of the COVID-19 pandemic with money and face masks.
According to Indiatimes, the suspect was arrested on Wednesday after the pastor had realised he was been duped and reported him to the Police in Hyderabad.
In a statement, the police said the Nigerian national, who is based in Bangalore, befriended Pastor Moses through a social networking platform by posing as a Canadian philanthropist.
“Morgan told pastor Moses that he was upset about the poor, who were worst affected by the pandemic. Morgan told Moses that he donates money for charity and expressed his willingness to send some money to Moses along with other items like sanitisers, masks and laptops to distribute among the poor,” Hyderabad Cyber Crime ACP KVM Prasad revealed.
The police confirmed that Moses received a phone call from a woman who posed as a customs official at the Delhi airport after he had agreed to distribute the items. She reportedly alerted him about an international parcel that they seized which he needs to pay some processing fee and custom duty to clear.
“The fraudster posing as a customs official asked the pastor to pay the processing fee and customs duty to clear it for dispatch. After Moses deposited a few lakhs of rupees in the bank accounts mentioned, she kept asking him to deposit more in the name of income tax and money laundering fine. In one month, Moses had sent Rs 24.39 lakh before realising that he was duped and lodged a complaint on August 19,” the ACP said.
Meanwhile, Bangalore police arrested the accused in a similar fraud and Hyderabad police brought Morgan to the city on prisoner transit warrant.
KanyiDaily had also reported how INTERPOL arrested two Nigerian suspects for alledgedly defrauding a Germany company of €14.7 million in a COVID-19 related scam.
