Queensland police help nab Nigerian email scammer

Queensland police have helped the Nigerian Economic Financial Crimes Commission catch a 23-year-old man who is alleged to have defrauded a Queensland resident of $20,000.

Queensland police have helped the Nigerian Economic Financial Crimes Commission catch a 23-year-old man who is alleged to have defrauded a Queensland resident of $20,000.

The Queenslander was caught up in a romance scam, where the Nigerian allegedly posed as a female and convinced the 45-year-old man to send money.

Romance websites have become fertile breeding grounds for internet scammers, who can use the sites to prey on the vulnerable and lonely.

Queensland Police Service Fraud and Corporate Crime Group Detective Superintendent Brian Hay told The Australian there had been 10 arrests as a result of joint operations conducted with Nigerian authorities.

“It’s getting better than it was,” he says. “It’s not where it could be, but a it’s darn sight further down the track than it was a couple of years ago.”

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