Inside the world of the Yahoo Boys, Africa's most infamous romance scammers
Ben used to repair generators for a living. But since his income was too low, he turned to romance scams two years ago – one of the most widespread online frauds in Nigeria. "When I wake up in the morning, I try to see that you're up, check you over, see how you're doing here, I get to know everything about you," he continued, sitting on a plastic chair amid a maze of metal shacks. In the stifling heat, two men lay on the ground less than a meter away. The most important thing, Ben went on, unfazed, is to "build trust."
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LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
Inside the world of the Yahoo Boys, Africa's most infamous romance scammers
For half a second, it was unclear if the interview was veering off course. Ben's voice (those interviewed requested anonymity) suddenly became warm and persuasive. "I need a girlfriend that I can trust. Like, I need you. Can you be my girlfriend?" The man was explaining how, from a working-class neighborhood in Lagos, he subtly manages to win over the hearts of his "clients" – as Nigerian scammers call their victims – thousands of kilometers away. Ben used to repair generators for a living. But since his income was too low, he turned to romance scams two years ago – one of the most widespread online frauds in Nigeria. "When I wake up in the morning, I try to see that you're up, check you over, see how you're doing here, I get to know everything about you," he continued, sitting on a plastic chair amid a maze of metal shacks. In the stifling heat, two men lay on the ground less than a meter away. The most important thing, Ben went on, unfazed, is to "build trust."
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
CBEX crypto scam: AI-hyped Ponzi scheme defrauds African investors
Edwin, a Kenyan government worker who only gave his first name out of shame, first encountered CBEX on Telegram, a messaging app. He was lured with promises of guaranteed monthly returns made possible by AI-powered trading systems, with lucrative referral bonuses -- classic hallmarks of Ponzi schemes. "I had very big plans. But I was conned both by the platform and an agent who lied he could help recover my money," Edwin told AFP. When he began investing last August, there were initial returns, leading him to invest more despite lacking prior cryptocurrency trading experience. In total, he believes he lost roughly 2.1 million shillings ($16,000), mostly from a bank loan he is now worried about needing to repay. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis says some $9.9 billion was lost to crypto scams globally last year. Such scams are not new in Africa, but their scale and sophistication has grown as cryptocurrency spreads. CBEX collapsed in April, leaving scores of investors like Edwin ruined, mainly in Kenya and Nigeria, according to media reports. But AFP has confirmed from accessing messages on CBEX's private Telegram groups that it has since rebooted its operations despite ongoing investigations and warnings by authorities. - 'I'm broke' - Abby, another Kenyan investor, carries the guilt of introducing 25 family and friends to CBEX. "(They) invested so much, and it all disappeared," he told AFP. "I would really love to help them recover but I'm broke." In Nigeria, news of CBEX's collapse led to attacks on CBEX-affiliated offices, which have since closed. Adeoye, a Nigerian victim, lost N700,000 (about $450). "The offer was juicy," he said. "I knew it was a risk, but I thought I would be lucky to cash out before anything happened." CBEX used the "brandjacking" tactic, adopting an acronym similar to the China Beijing Equity Exchange to give it legitimacy. The platform claimed to be licensed in the US and said ST Technologies International was responsible for the AI trading signals, allowing it to operate in Nigeria under the corporate identity of ST Technologies International Ltd (Smart Treasure/Super Technology). It even obtained an anti-money laundering certificate from Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) this January, though the EFCC has clarified that this was only for "consultancy services", not for currency exchanges. 'Build trust' To add further legitimacy, CBEX claimed it was established a decade ago and the ST team eight years ago. In reality, it began operations in Nigeria last July, according to local media, before spreading to Kenya. "If you check CBEX wallet addresses on-chain, they were only operating for about a year before the collapse," Kenyan cryptocurrency investigator Wycklife Sewe told AFP. While pretending to actively trade, CBEX actually moved funds out of investors' wallets via TRON (a decentralised blockchain network), said Sewe. The assets then underwent complex routing through multiple wallets and cryptocurrency conversions to obscure the audit trail. "They have designed their system using code to fool you that your money is still there and you can see it growing. But your money is moved immediately after you deposit," Sewe said, adding that CBEX was also running other scams. CBEX has changed its website domain several times to avoid attracting attention. AFP found at least four registered by it. International warnings In April 2024, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, an independent market regulator, issued a public alert against "CBEX Group". A recent investigation by crypto analyst Specter linked CBEX's withdrawal wallets to darknet marketplace Huione Guarantee, a Cambodia-based platform known for providing illicit tools to facilitate crypto crime. The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Huione Group a "primary money-laundering concern" in May, saying that it had facilitated more than $4 billion in illegal transactions between August 2021 and January 2025. Following CBEX's collapse, Kenya's Capital Markets Authority issued an "Investor Alert" about unregulated platforms, and parliament is discussing a bill to regulate virtual assets. 'Never again' Nigeria's EFCC says it has arrested two people and put out warrants for eight others in Nigeria and Kenya. A new Investments and Securities Act expressly prohibits and criminalises Ponzi schemes. But investigations are lengthy and expensive. In May, the EFCC said a "reasonable sum" of lost funds had been recovered, without stating the amount, highlighting the complexity of converting cryptocurrencies back to national currency. A Telegram spokesman told AFP that "scam content is removed when discovered and offending users banned". AFP found some CBEX Telegram groups were now labelled as scams on the platform. On June 10, CBEX, which had previously blamed hackers for the missing funds, claimed on its Telegram channels to have "compensated" the lost money. But it asked affected users to complete "verification" by paying a fee -- a common re-scamming tactic. For victims like Abby, the way forward is easy. "Never, ever again! I am done," he said. © 2025 AFP
AFP
23-06-2025
- AFP
Posts mislead with claims of Nigeria's southeast being excluded from development projects
'Student Loan excluded South East, Jamb failed South East, Sea port, none in South East, NNPC/FIRS/Customs none from South East, Int'l Airport none in South East, Railway none in South East, Military checkpoints, everywhere in South East,' reads a post shared more than 900 times on Facebook. 'When they cry, you call them IPOB,' concludes the post, published on May 19, 2025. The post was shared by a page belonging to Nigerian singer Charles Oputa, popularly known as 'Charly Boy', to his 180,000 followers. AFP Fact Check has previously debunked claims by Charly Boy (here, here, here and here). Image Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, taken on June 16, 2025 Nigeria's southeast comprises the states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo. A previous unilateral declaration of independence in the region and the creation of the republic of Biafra in 1967 led to a 30-month civil war that claimed more than one million lives, most of them Igbos, from the effects of conflict, starvation and disease. In 2015, renewed protests for Biafran independence re-emerged after decades, with Nnamdi Kanu as a leading figure. He was arrested in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria on June 27, 2021. He faces charges related to treason (archived here). His trial began afresh on March 21, 2025, after the former judge recused herself (archived here). However, the posts claim that the region has been excluded from infrastructural and development projects is misleading. Loan programme The claim that the southeast region was excluded from a national student loan programme is false. The programme was introduced by the Bola Tinubu administration in May 2024 to encourage more people to pursue higher education (archived here). As of May 2025, the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) said it had received over a million loan applications for tuition and upkeep from about 629,000 students (archived here). Data published by the fund showed that a little more than 40,000 students from the southeast had submitted over 57,000 loan applications. Image Screenshot of the loan disbursement dashboard taken on June 18, 2025 JAMB failure The claim about JAMB failure refers to the entry examination taken by teenagers who want to pursue tertiary education. The exam, Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), is coordinated by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). JAMB reported mass failure in the 2025 edition of the examination, where 78% of the candidates scored less than 200 out of the maximum 400 points (archived here). The failure was later attributed to a technical glitch that affected students in the Lagos and southeast zones. About 206,000 students were affected in Lagos and 173,387 students were affected in the southeast zone (archived here). So this claim is true, though not limited to the southeast. Seaport The claim that there is no seaport in the southeast region of Nigeria is correct. Nigeria currently has seven seaports, which are all located in the southwest and south-south regions due to their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean (archived here). The southeast region, meanwhile, has rivers that run into the ocean but no coastal land. However, the Onitsha River Port – while not a seaport – is located in Anambra state in southeast Nigeria. The river port has reported receiving barges and containers in recent years (archived here and here). There is also an inland dry port under construction in Aba, Abia state (archived here). Inclusion in agencies The claim that there is no one from the southeast region in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service is misleading. Although the heads of these agencies are not from the southeast, there are other people from the southeast in top positions at these agencies, including the vice president of business services at the NNPCL (archived here). The FIRS Act also mandates that the management team must have a representative from each geopolitical zone, one of which is the southeast (archived here). This rule also applies to the Nigeria Customs Service (archived here). International airport The claim about the absence of an international airport in the southeast is false. The Akanu Ibiam International Airport is located in Enugu (archived here). However, the airports in Lagos and Abuja enjoy more passenger traffic (archived here). Railways The claim that there are no rail lines in the southeast region is false. In November 2024, the government completed and handed over the Port Harcourt-Aba Railway to the Nigeria Railway Corporation to start operations (archived here). In December 2024, the NRC said the trains transport between 500 and 900 passengers per trip (archived here). Military checkpoints The claim that military checkpoints are common in the southeast is true. Due to insecurity (archived here), Mohammed Abubakar, the minister of defence, last year pledged to ramp up security measures in the region with the stated aim of ensuring stability for businesses (archived here). Military checkpoints are also common in the northern region due to efforts to flush out armed groups like Boko Haram and conflicts between Fulani herders and farmers that have resulted in significant casualties (archived here).
