Bauchi Police busts yahoo-yahoo training centre, arrests five suspects

Bauchi State Police Command has arrested suspected internet fraudsters (yahoo-yahoo) undergoing training in Bauchi metropolis.

A release from the Command PPRO, SP Ahmed Wakili contained that the operatives of the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) of the Command acted on a verified intelligence on May 20, 2022, busted into an apartment located at Kirfi Road, GRA, Bauchi, where a training centre was established for the training of youths who want to venture into internet crime (yahoo-yahoo) by 22-yr-old Emmanuel Saleh alias Wizblaq of Rafin-Zurfi, Bauchi.

According to the release, the suspects arrested in the exotic apartment are Saleh (the ringleader); 20-yr-old Matthias Akronyi alias Mad Kid of Block 24, 82 Division’s Army Barracks, Enugu; 21-yr-old Patience Nuhu of Rafin-Zurfi, Bauchi; 18-yr-old Bulus Haruna of Rafin-Zurfi, Bauchi and 19-yr-old Kingsley Simon of Rafin-Zurfi, Bauchi.

The release further said the items recovered from the residential apartment turned training centre as Exhibits include four laptops, one television set. four sound systems, a brand new power generator, seven plastic chairs, one office chair, a musical keyboard and a fridge.

So far, findings revealed that the principal suspect, Saleh and members of the syndicate targeted foreign women under a proxy server, hacked by spoofing the victim’s email account/website which makes it possible to carry out various transactions in the legitimate email of the victims to fool the victim and gain access to the accounts, calendar and data.

During the investigation, the suspects confessed to the crime while the Commissioner of Police, Umar Sanda, directed that the suspects be charged to court as soon as the investigation is concluded.

Consequently, the commissioner “advised the citizens of Bauchi State to take note of the following precautions to mitigate against cybercrime. They should be careful of the information shared online (e.g pet names, date of birth etc); don’t click on anything in an unsolicited email/SMS asking to update or verify account information and be carefully examine the email address, URL, and spelling used in any correspondence.

“They should also set-up two factor (or multi-factor) authentication on any account that allows it, be careful what they download and never open email attachments from someone you don’t know as well as verify payment and purchase requests in person, if possible; or by calling the person to make sure it is legitimate,” he said.  ( Nigerian Tribune)