The Crime Branch’s cyber crime cell arrested a Nigerian on Wednesday for duping several unsuspecting internet users by promising them prizes in online lotteries.
The police arrested Onyekaozuru Basil Mmereole from the Crawford Market area. The 40-year-old has told the police of a group in Nigeria that fraudulently operated online lotteries. Mmereole has said that Indians were the most targeted as such lotteries were popular among the people here.
The modus operandi was simple — send emails asking for some money as processing fee and other charges. Mmereole’s latest victim was a Dadar resident, who almost fell for a mail that promised a prize of Rs46crore.
“Mmereole has told us that he had visited the country twice earlier. And he had managed to get cash from the victims in the name of processing fee,” Rakesh Maria, the joint commissoner of police (crime) said.
The complainant, Arvind Hukkeri, blew the lid off the international racket. The 59-year-old had received a mail on his personal email ID on November 11, 2008, from the ID of Oceanic Bank in Nigeria.
He was told in the mail that the prize money worth Rs46 crore in Indian currency had been deposited in the bank under his name. And he could get the entire money through courier if he paid $8,670 as processing and shipping charges.
The mail also talked of Dr Wada Nass, the director of operations in Oceanic Bank and a Nigerian diplomat, who would visit India to collect the payment, after which the lottery money would be couriered.
Hukkeri felt something amiss and approached the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) on January 15. Officers from the CCIC got in touch with the sender and agreed to pay him the processing amount. The date and place for the meeting was fixed over the telephone.
Mmereole, a resident of Lagos in Nigeria, on Tuesday introduced himself as Dr Wada Nass and fixed up a meeting with the CCIC officers at Badshah Hotel in the Crawford Market area. Mmereole was caught while accepting Rs4,500 in cash.
