An American woman, whose identity remains undisclosed, has shared her experience of being scammed by two Nigerian internet fraudsters, commonly known as “Yahoo boys,” in a romance scam that resulted in a significant financial loss.
Despite the painful experience, the woman, who is in her 50s, expressed her admiration for Nigerian men, calling them “the sexiest and most handsome men on this planet.”
In a viral video posted on Sunday, she recounted how she met one of the scammers in 2020 on TikTok. She showed the young man’s picture, along with the one he used to deceive his victims. The woman revealed that she eventually uncovered his true identity and learned he had a girlfriend whom he was planning to marry, after he accidentally dialed her contact using his Nigerian phone number.
“Back in 2020, I met this man, I was with him for ten months, and I got sick of him because he was always demanding money. He always wanted more and more, so I decided to say enough was enough because one day he made a mistake and called me from a Nigerian phone number, and he was trying to play it off that it was his friend’s number.
“So when I was finally done that I didn’t want to have anything to do with him again, he opened up to me. Now, he is about to get married to his Nigerian girlfriend (showed their picture).
“May God bless them and hopefully they have a long life together. God will bless their relationship. I also congratulated him. And I hope everything goes well for him,” she said.
Narrating her second experience, she asserted that it was with a young boy who played smart on her with another identity but later opened up that he did that to help his sick mother who later survived because he could foot the hospital bills.
The white woman said, “This second was a little different. He was more polite and considered my feelings, but then after a year with him, he decided to come out and tell me the truth that he was a young Nigerian boy trying to put himself through school and his mother was very sick. And he kept thanking me because I saved his mother’s life.”
“That one doesn’t hurt me much because I know that the money went for good. The other guy, that’s not good because I used to see videos of him throwing money around and spending it on Nigerian hook-up girls. I’m over it. I will bounce back one day.
“I still have love for the Nigerian people, the men are the sexiest and most handsome men on this planet. I pray that nothing like this ever happen to me again because now I know all those secrets. They destroyed my life financially. Please be safe in that country because I know that a lot of the people there are struggiling. But you have to remember that a lot of American women are struggling too because it is difficult being a woman here and struggling too especially when you don’t have partner.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has consistently targeted internet fraudsters across Nigeria’s states. In May 2023, EFCC Chairman Mr. Ola Olukoyede revealed that the Commission secured 3,175 convictions and recovered over N156 billion between May 29, 2023, and May 29, 2024, coinciding with President Bola Tinubu’s assumption of office.
Olukoyede made this announcement at the launch of the Zero Tolerance Club at the University of Abuja, Gwagwalada. Represented by the EFCC Secretary, Mohammed Hammajoda, the Chairman also disclosed that the EFCC had recovered substantial amounts of foreign currencies, including $43,835,214.24, £25,365.00, €186,947.10, ₹51,360.00, C$3,750.00, A$740.00, ¥74,754.00, R35,000.00, 42,390 UAE Dirhams, 247 Riyals, and 21,580,867,631 in cryptocurrency.
While acknowledging the Commission’s impressive performance over the year, Olukoyede expressed concern over the ongoing involvement of youths in internet fraud, which remains a significant challenge for all stakeholders in the fight against corruption.
“In spite of this commendable performance, the commission is deeply worried about the increasing involvement of young people, including students, in cybercrime, popularly called Yahoo Yahoo. Hundreds of suspects are arrested monthly, with many of them ending up in jail,” he said.