THE Director of Directorate of State Services (DSS) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abubakar Bubuche, has warned residents on the activities of criminal syndicates using computer animation to manipulate pictures with the aim of extorting money from their victims.
Bubuche, who gave the warning in Abuja yesterday, said the fraudsters would then send such pictures to their targets, threatening to post them on the Facebook as well as other social media platforms, if they refused to part with certain huge amount of money.
His words: “This is to inform the general public about the activities of a criminal syndicates’ style of operation include, among others, the use of computer animation to strip their victims and put their nude pictures on Facebook and other social media platforms.
“The gang calls up their potential victims and orders them to pay certain amount of money to a given account numbers or have their personal pictures edited and posted nude on the internet.”
He said the Service received various complaints, which prompted its agents to swing into action, leading to the arrest of two people in connection with the internet fraud.
The suspects – Shettima Baba Shehu (35 years) and Abdullahi Hassan (22 years) – were arrested in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by operatives from the FCT Command.
“The public may wish to note that this syndicate has diverse membership with various professional skills, especially in ICT. Citizens and FCT residents alike are advised to be wary of fraudsters and promptly report similar cases and suspected persons to the security agencies,” the FCT DSS Director said.
The Nation
