Metro
How N630m ‘Nigerian’ Face Mask Scam Was Nipped
By Ayodele Oluwafemi
The International Police Organisation, INTERPOL has uncovered a €1.5m face masks scam involving criminal elements operating in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Nigeria.
Interpol, in a statement, published on its website, on Tuesday, disclosed that it was carried out using a “sophisticated fraud scheme using compromised emails, advance-payment fraud, and money laundering.”
The money was headed for Nigeria before it was nipped through INTERPOL.
How it started according to INTERPOL
It started in mid-March when the German authorities contracted two sales companies in Zurich and Hamburg to procure EUR 15 million worth of face masks, following a global shortage of face masks due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The German authorities got an email from one of the contracted companies, explaining that their request cannot be met while referring them to a company in Spain selling face masks, posting the URL of the company’s site in the body of the mail.
However, the site was fake and the legitimate email addresses had been compromised.
Interpol stated, “Just before the delivery date, the buyers were informed that the funds had not been received and that an emergency transfer of EUR 880,000 straight to the Dutch supplier was required to secure the merchandise.”
After the German authorities discovered that they were being duped, it now contacted the Interpol for investigation.
It was discovered that part of the money was destined for an account in Nigeria.
“Nearly EUR 500,000 of those funds had already been sent to the United Kingdom, all of which was destined for an account in Nigeria.
“Europol activated its professional networks to reach key contacts in the banking sector. Thanks to an alert raised by investigators, the UK bank was able to recall the full amount. Those funds have now been returned to the Netherlands and frozen by authorities,” it stated.
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