Well, you’ve always taken it as a sort of a meme, or an almost staple of an Internet joke when you received an email from a ‘Nigerian prince’ asking you to help him in his newest venture for the sultry contribution from your bank account.
You would’ve thought it was a funny scam, to the point where you would have directly sent it to your email trashcan to make your point. However, seems like the real ‘Nigerian prince’ did get away with the money from the innocent and managed to make it believable!
The Nigerian social media influencer Raymond Abbas, 38, was recently arrested in Dubai by the FBI in a joint international raid this week, week charges of him scamming through cyberspace of the huge amount of money – £350million! The FBI was able to seize almost a tenth of that in cash when they arrested the alleged scammer, who lured wandering minds to his ‘business’ by giving credibility of his wealth through pictures of him on private jets and pool parties all night.
For the same allegations, the faux-billionaire was arrested alongside 12 other people believed to be in the same crime ring.
It is believed that investigators found email addresses of two million victims on several phones and computers seized during the operation. During the raid luxury cars were seized as well as suitcases full of cash.
‘The suspects targeted victims overseas by creating fake websites for well known companies and banks in a bid to steal victims’ credit card information and then launder the stolen money,’ Brigadier Jamal al-Jalaf, of Dubai Police CID, told The Times.
Mr Abbas – who goes by the name Hushpuppi to his fans – is also accused of committing fraud in Europe, America and Nigeria, police said.
The raid happened two months after investigations into the gang began. Detectives used social media to help track their locations. Mr Abbas started out as a secondhand-clothes trader in Lagos before claiming to be a billionaire property developer in Dubai.
He says he posts about his luxury life to inspire others to make more of their lives. ‘I post a few of these things so that someone can see my page someday and decide not to give up,’ he once told his 2.4 million followers on Instagram.
A video was uploaded by Dubai police of Mr Abbas looking startled and in handcuffs after his arrest on June 10. Local media reports that the FBI will push to extradite Mr Abbas to America as many of the alleged victims were US citizens. Mr Abbas has not yet commented on the allegations.
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Replaced!