yahoo yahoo boys strike again

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 5:43 pm

I had to share this one

Quote:

TWIST: How bizman was conned out of deal
••• Police nab yahoo, yahoo ‘boys’ for trying to sell stolen equipment to owner
By CHRISTOPHER OJI, MATTHEW DIKE & UDEZE ONYEKA
Thursday, September 16, 2010
•Stolen equipment in a truck
Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section

It was a twist of fate, as detectives in Lagos arrested some suspected fraudsters, while they were trying to sell stolen equipment to the owner.

The victim, Adura Ojo, 54, was said to have placed an order for some equipment worth $40,000, from a Chinese, but the suspects played a fast one on him and cleared the goods from the seaport, before he realised what happened.

The importer was shortchanged by some yahoo yahoo boys, who were said to be browsing Internet in a business centre where he went to send e-mail to the exporters. Ojo, who was not computer literate, had sought the assistance of the young men to send the e-mail to China, but they took advantage of the opportunity and hijacked the business transaction.

He never had an inkling that his ‘helpers’ were conmen.
They were said to have started communicating with the Chinese, changed Ojo’s e-mail address and informed them about the change. Daily Sun was also told how the Chinese warned Ojo to stop communicating with them, after they were deceived by the fraudsters.

According to a detective at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos, the fraudsters started transacting business with the exporters, claiming to be the ‘real’ owner of the business.
The alleged leader of the syndicate, Ahmed Ibrahim, narrated how he was browsing the Internet before he heard the discussions between Ojo and the Chinese.

“When I discovered the amount of money involved, I became interested and quickly contacted the Chinese, impersonating Ojo. I instructed them to stop using the old e-mail to communicate with me and gave them new e-mail address,” he said. However, the business deal reached anti-climax, when the suspects cleared the equipment from the port and were searching for a buyer and went to the original importer.

He was said to be resting in his house when two men knocked on his door and introduced themselves as dealers in the same equipment he lost to fraudsters. They had told him the equipment would be disposed of at a very low price. Ojo, who became suspicious, accompanied them to the warehouse, where the imported equipment was kept. But he was shocked to the marrow, when he discovered that it was the same equipment he imported from China.

He was said to have cross-checked the serial number and it tallied with the one he imported.
Ojo said: “I decided to play along with them, by depositing some money to deceive them into believing that I was interested in buying the equipment. I reported the matter to the police that swung into action and arrested three persons.”

Ibrahim, the leader of the syndicate, narrated how he contacted one Olusegun Ajibare, who innocently assisted him to procure a loan of N1.5 million used in clearing the equipment from the port. He also told how he later handed over the business transaction to one Sesan. “All I know is that the equipment is worth N7.5 million. Sesan wouldn’t have sold it less than N4 million,” he said.

Sesan, who also spoke to Daily Sun, claimed he didn’t know Ibrahim was a fraudster. “When he came to me, he told me it was his elder brother in China, who sent the equipment to him. He deceived me when he showed me the bill of laden,” he lamented. The police are still investigating.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/crimewatch/2010/sept/16/crimewatch-09-16-2010-001.htm