The assets of six Nigerian nationals have been frozen by US authorities for cyber fraud amounting to about $6m (£4.7m).
BBC reports that, American individuals and small businesses were hit by the fraudsters in an “elaborate scheme’’ of romantic fraud or carrying out an act of impersonation as business executives.
These fraudsters allegedly received illegal money transfers and manipulated their victims to access their usernames, password and bank details.
Another interesting tool or style implored is the usage of romance-some victims of romance scams were targeted through emails and social media.
According to the US authorities, majority of those affected were women, the elderly and those who had lost a spouse.
So far, the where about of the suspects is unknown but authorities say all their property and interests in the US have been blocked. How much this amounts to is unclear.
As result of the consistent fraud cases, one of the measures put in place by the US is a warning to American citizens, prohibited them from dealing with the fraudsters.
Meanwhile, the current technological advancements globally has been tagged by the US secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, as an advantage the fraudsters have taken advantage of, to target vulnerable Americans.
Going memory lane, in August 2019, one of the efforts made by the US to curb the menace is the charging of 80 foreign nationals, mostly Nigerians, for the attempted theft of $46m through internet fraud.
Last year, the US Treasury Crimes Enforcement Network said it had received more than 32,000 reports involving almost $9bn in attempted theft schemes targeting US financial institutions and their customers.
