A Nigerian court has sentenced 15 foreign nationals—all of Asian origin—to one year in prison and fined them one million naira (approximately $630) each for cyber-terrorism and internet fraud, according to the country’s anti-corruption agency.
The convicted group includes 11 Filipinos, two Chinese, one Malaysian, and one Indonesian. They pleaded guilty before the court in Lagos and were accused of recruiting young Nigerians to commit identity theft and pose as foreigners online, said Dele Oyewale, spokesperson for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The court also ordered the forfeiture of devices seized from the offenders to the Nigerian federal government.
Nigeria has long battled a reputation for online scams perpetrated by so-called “Yahoo Boys.” But recent developments point to a growing presence of international cybercrime syndicates taking advantage of the country’s weak digital security infrastructure.
According to the EFCC, these foreign-led networks enlist Nigerian accomplices to run phishing scams targeting victims—mostly in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe—seeking to steal money or sensitive personal data.
In a major operation last December, the EFCC arrested 792 suspects in Lagos’s Victoria Island, including 192 foreign nationals—148 of whom were Chinese. Several of these individuals are currently on trial for related offenses.
