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Claim: A Facebook user claims that the FBI has arrested 80 Nigerians after being trailed for years for criminal activities in the state
Verdict: Misleading. Although the FBI arrested a group of Nigerians in connection with international fraud, money laundering, credible news outlets reported the incident happened in 2019.
Full Text
In recent years, there has been growing concern over Nigerians’ increasing involvement in fraudulent activities abroad, a trend that has cast a shadow on the reputation of the country’s diaspora.
Recently, a Facebook user, Comrade Phils, shared a video and alleged that the FBI arrested 80 Nigerians living abroad after being under surveillance for years due to their involvement in criminal activities in the U.S.
According to the video, the defendants were part of a large-scale global fraud scheme with far-reaching implications.
The video further claimed that these individuals were responsible for defrauding 1,000 people in Los Angeles, resulting in a loss of $73 million.
Paul Delacourt, an FBI assistant director featured in the video, explained that the bureau received 14,000 victim complaints. The criminals allegedly used hacked email accounts to deceive businesses and individuals into making payments.
The post shared on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2024, has garnered around 1,800 views, 25 likes, and eight comments.
Most users who saw the Facebook post expressed no doubt about its authenticity.
However, DUBAWA decided to verify the post’s authenticity to curtail the spread of disinformation.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a keyword search using the phrase “80 Nigerians arrested by the FBI” and discovered that the incident occurred in 2019.
DUBAWA found that several credible news outlets, including This Day, Premium Times and Vanguard, reported the story.
According to This Day , a United States federal grand jury indicted 80 individuals, mostly Nigerians, for their involvement in a significant international fraud and money laundering conspiracy. These individuals were accused of targeting victims through schemes such as business email compromise and romance scams.
However, all the news outlets earlier mentioned published the report in 2019.
Conclusion
Although it is true that the FBI arrested 80 individuals, mostly Nigerians, for their involvement in international fraud, the incident happened in 2019.
