An Internet fraud\u00a0syndicate operating out of Pretoria stole over R70 million from hundreds of women\u00a0over six years, with a Nigerian man posing as a US soldier to win the hearts of his\u00a0lonely victims.<\/p>\n
According to a report in the Sunday Times, the cyber scam network was set up by a group of Nigerians in 2009, which ran romance and credit card-related scams.<\/p>\n
One victim was an American woman who was ditched while waiting at an airport, in her wedding dress along with her pastor, for her \u201cfuture husband\u201d.<\/p>\n
She had never met the man in person, but he said he was a US soldier stationed in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The pair had talked online for eight months after meeting on an online dating site, during which time she made several money transfers to him.<\/p>\n
According to the report, hundreds of women from the US, UK, and Canada were scammed by the Pretoria syndicate.<\/p>\n
The Hawks, working with US and UK authorities, bust the group \u2013 with 11 Nigerians arrested and\u00a0extradited to the US in the first phase of the operation.<\/p>\n
\u201dThey would purchase things online, spending millions of rand.\u00a0They were buying\u2026\u00a0iPads and laptops, which were shipped to South Africa to be distributed in West Africa,\u201d said The Hawks in the report.<\/p>\n
The Hawks were then contacted by US authorities, which had identified the syndicate\u2019s kingpin \u2013\u00a0Olayinka Ilumsa Sunmola.<\/p>\n
He was based in South Africa, and used sites like\u00a0Match.com and pof.com to target divorced or widowed women aged between 40 and 60.<\/p>\n
\u201dThis man would profess his love for these women for months and eventually come up with emergencies like his child had a medical emergency and he needed money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victims would then transfer funds to the \u201cUS soldier\u201d.\u00a0The women paid between R3,000 and R1.4 million each to\u00a0Sunmola.<\/p>\n
46 victims have come forward so far, stated the report.<\/p>\n
Sunmola\u2019s scams were so successful that he bought three properties in Pretoria and one in Sandton \u2013 paying cash.<\/p>\n
Sunmola was arrested in 2014 by\u00a0Scotland Yard while travelling in the UK, and last week saw representatives from The Hawks testifying against him during a trial in the US.<\/p>\n
Sunmola faces up to 127 years in a US prison and a fine of R2 million.<\/p>\n
The full report is available in the Sunday Times of 13 March 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n Beware this banking scam on the rise in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Beware these MTN, Vodacom billing scams<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on scams in SA<\/h3>\n