African arrests in internet lottery scam

One of internet users’ pet hates – fraudulent lottery spamming – was in the headlines in Ghana this week with the arrest of a local woman, Lucinda Aebiola (30), charged with involvement in an online lottery fraud racket.

Aebiola’s husband, Emanuel Augustine Nuseb (37) is living in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was arrested on December 16 after the police were tipped off that he and an accomplice, Ravindrasingh Waccher (52) were involved in an internet lottery scam.

Several bogus demand drafts on foreign banks, a laptop, two pen drives, four mobile phones and SIM cards were seized from the duo, who under interrogation revealed that Lucinda Abiola was also involved and helped forge the fraudulent documents used to con gullible online targets.

The fraud ring managed to convince some Internet users into believing they had won large prizes in a fictitious lottery, the authorities claim. Fraudulent documents were used in the deception, in which claimants were invited to pay a registration fee before they could secure their prize.

Those gullible enough to send money heard nothing more from the ring, and their cash vanished into cyberspace.

The case goes to trial early next year.