Police nab man for online fraud, seize 25 phones and many ATM cards

The Ogun State Police have arrested a 45-year-old man for allegedly defrauding someone of N2.5 million online. They recovered 25 ATM cards, 25 mobile phones, and 16 SIM cards from him.

The police spokesperson, Oluseyi Babaseyi, shared this in a statement. The suspect, Tony Ameachi, was arrested in the Ojo area of Lagos State on 22 September. Detectives tracked him down following a fraud complaint related to an online ad for deep freezers.

The complainant, who buys and sells deep freezers, saw the ad on 1 April. She reached out to the person behind the ad. After some talks, she sent N2.5 million to a bank account in the name of Abdulmoruf Abdulahi to buy the freezers.

"She transferred N2,500,000 into a bank account bearing the name Abdulmoruf Abdulahi for the purchase of the deep freezers for resale. The goods were not delivered, and the person with whom she had been dealing subsequently stopped responding to her messages," Babaseyi said.

After the report, the police investigated and arrested Ameachi in Ojo in September. A search at the time led to the recovery of the 25 ATM cards, 25 mobile phones, and 16 SIM cards.

"Further investigation showed that the suspect allegedly got utility bills and newly registered SIM cards from partners. They were told to use these to open different bank accounts. The suspect then collected the ATM cards and used them for transactions linked to fraud," the police stated.

The police have started examining the recovered items to see if they connect to this case and to find out if they relate to other fraud cases or more victims. They also want to identify others who might have been involved in this alleged scam.

Babaseyi said they have sent the case file and the items to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Eleweran, Abeokuta, Ogun State, for further action. He mentioned that the suspect will face charges in court once the investigation wraps up.

This case shows the dangers of online ads that lure victims with offers that look real. In this Ogun case, the complainant wanted to buy deep freezers for resale. She fell for the online offer and transferred a huge sum to the seller’s account.

This situation is similar to what PREMIUM TIMES found in its investigation into AI-powered scam ads on TikTok. In that case, fraudsters used sponsored ads pretending to be well-known companies and public figures to trick people into thinking the offers were legitimate.