India nabs four Nigerians for alleged online romance scam

No fewer than four Nigerians have been arrested in India over alleged fraud and impersonation offences linked to social media scams.

According to separate reports by The Times of India on Monday, three suspects identified as Chinedu, Sunday and Jules were arrested by the Gurugram police for allegedly posing as women online to deceive victims and obtain money fraudulently.

A fourth suspect, 49-year-old Uchenwa, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force on Friday over a related cyber fraud case.

Police reportedly recovered 19 mobile phones, one laptop, and 18 Indian and international SIM cards from Chinedu, Sunday and Jules during the operation.

Authorities said investigations began after a man filed a complaint on April 25 last year, alleging that he was defrauded by a woman he met on Instagram.

“The girl told him that she had arrived in India and she needed Rs 69,900 as registration fees to exchange his cheque for Indian currency at the Mumbai airport,” the police said.

The victim later realised he had been scammed after transferring the money.

Following investigations, police tracked and arrested the suspects in Noida late Thursday night.

According to investigators, Sunday allegedly entered India illegally through Bangladesh in 2022, while Chinedu and Jules reportedly arrived in the country on study visas in 2018 and 2017 respectively.

“The accused used to talk to people living in India, posing as girls on social media platforms, and by gaining their trust, they committed the frauds,” a police officer said.

In a separate development, The Times of India reported that Uchenwa allegedly operated fake social media accounts using identities of citizens from the United States and the United Kingdom to target victims in India.

Investigators said victims were emotionally manipulated before being lured with promises of expensive gifts, foreign currency and luxury items supposedly being shipped to India.

The report added that victims were later contacted by individuals posing as customs or tax officials who demanded payments for customs duties, GST, income tax and clearance fees before the parcels could be released.

The Special Task Force said the case originated after a resident of Daliganj in Lucknow reported losing approximately Rs 68 lakh to the syndicate.

According to the victim, he received a Facebook friend request in August 2025 from a woman identified as “Doris Williams” from England.

After gaining his confidence, the woman allegedly claimed she intended to travel to India with nearly Rs 3 crore in cash.

The victim later received calls from individuals posing as customs officials, claiming the woman had been detained at the Delhi airport for carrying a huge amount of foreign currency.

He was reportedly first asked to pay Rs 61,500 as customs clearance charges through a UPI account allegedly linked to the suspects.

Investigators said the fraudsters later demanded additional payments under several other charges, leading the victim to transfer nearly Rs 40 lakh into multiple accounts. Another suspect, posing as a remittance officer, allegedly convinced him to pay an additional Rs 28 lakh.

The victim reportedly continued making payments until January 2026 before realising he had been defrauded and subsequently reporting the matter to the police.

The STF said its cybercrime unit launched an operation under the supervision of ASP Vishal Vikram Singh, which led to Uchenwa’s arrest in Delhi through technical surveillance and intelligence gathering.

According to investigators, Uchenwa admitted he travelled to India in 2010 for the garment business but later turned to cyber fraud after suffering financial setbacks.

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