The Kansas Attorney General’s Office successfully thwarted an attempt by Bimbo Toyin Akinyemi, a Nigerian national, to defraud a Kansas resident of cryptocurrency.

This was revealed in a statement titled, “State of Kansas, U.S., Thwarts Attempt by Nigerian Crypto Scammer to Defraud Resident, Attracting Over $50,000 in Civil Penalties.”

BitKE, known for reporting on Bitcoin, crypto, and blockchain activity in Africa, disclosed the news on Monday via its X handle #BitcoinKE.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Akinyemi promised the victim a large return for investing in cryptocurrency. Court documents show that Akinyemi entered into a contract with the unnamed victim on 15 July 2023, where the victim was to purchase Bitcoin and deposit it into Akinyemi’s ‘investment wallet address,’ with an expected return of $500 to $1,240.

Akinyemi exploited the victim’s lack of understanding of cryptocurrencies, misleading them by concealing the traceability of fund transfers and falsely claiming that depositing funds into a digital wallet would ‘activate’ it as an investment account. After receiving the deposits, Akinyemi transferred the funds to his own account.

A fraudulent $1,000 cheque was then sent to the victim, which was never cashed. The Kansas Attorney General’s Office stated that the victim is entitled to a refund of their $250 investment, and Akinyemi is responsible for $50,000 in civil penalties for five violations, $4,000 in investigation fees and expenses, and all court costs.

The Charities and Financial Scams Unit of the Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Akinyemi under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

Authorities seized Akinyemi’s wallet, which reportedly contained half of a Bitcoin valued at over $28,900, as well as other digital currency worth more than $4,000.

A local judge issued a default judgment against Akinyemi after they failed to respond to the summons and petitions sent to their email address. In addition to the financial penalties, Akinyemi has been prohibited from engaging in consumer transactions within the state.

“Cryptocurrency is a borderless asset that allows international scammers to target and defraud Kansans from the comfort of a keyboard,” said First Assistant Attorney General Nathanial Castillo.

“Scammers realise they have a better chance of getting away with fraud if they convince victims to send cryptocurrency. Kansans should always thoroughly scrutinise anyone they meet online before sending payment in cryptocurrency.”

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and the FBI were also part of the investigations.

Workers in the nation’s telecommunications industry under the aegis of the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association (PTECSSAN) will today (Monday) begin an indefinite nationwide strike over sack, and poor working conditions among others.

Among the employees going on strike include field maintenance engineers, transmission engineers, customer service engineers, fibre engineers, and other critical staff.

There are fears that strike could disrupt telecommunications services nationwide if not resolved quickly.

PTECSSAN had given notice of the strike in a statement signed by Mr Okonu Abdullahi, its general secretary.

Abdullahi said the strike had become necessary following alleged anti-labour practices including the refusal of the employers to recognise and respect the workers’ constitutional rights to freely associate with the union.

He alleged also that three members of the union were unjustly sacked. He said: “We shall not be suspending the planned indefinite strike action until our demands, which are as follows, are met:

“Immediate reinstatement of the three unjustly sacked workers: Sotola Sunday Kolawole, Ulu Ikechukwu Christopher and Alex Franklin C.”

“Immediate recognition of the fundamental right of the employees to freely associate with the union, “ he said.

According to the general secretary, other demands include immediate recognition of the union as the negotiating body for the employees on workers welfare.

He said also that the union was demanding the immediate remittance of membership dues into its account as earlier provided among others.

“We hope that these companies will utilise the seven-day window of this notice to meet our demands and avert the indefinite strike action,” Abdullahi said

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is working closely with law enforcement agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Police Force to track and apprehend individuals involved in identity theft and cybercrime.

This is coming on the heels of rising insecurity and other criminalities which has cashed into the poorly regulated SIM card registration.

Identity theft has been a major challenge faced by Nigeria.

According to Nigeria Tribune, it is not uncommon for criminals to use SIM cards registered under different names to aid in their illegal activities.

For example, kidnappers often use unregistered SIM cards or ones registered under false names to demand ransom from their victims’ families.

Dr Rueben Mouka, director Public Affairs of the NCC, said the major step taken by the NCC to address identity theft is the initiation of the mandatory linking of the National Identity Number with individual’s sim cards., according to Nigeria Tribune.

Apart from this huge step, the NCC had also taken more steps to address this issue and secure individuals from criminal elements.

The NCC had initiated the mandatory registration of sim cards and even took more steps to ensure that all the sims are linked to the individual’s National Identity Number (NIN).

This move is very strategic because once you have a NIN, your data would have been in possession of the government. This will reduce identity theft.

The NCC mandated telecom operators to register all SIM cards with valid identification documents such as the National Identification Number (NIN).

This helps in linking phone numbers to individuals, reducing the chances of criminals using unregistered lines for fraudulent activities.

The NCC is also supporting the government’s drive to integrate SIM cards with the National Identity Number (NIN) database.

This ensures that every mobile phone user in Nigeria is properly identified, making it more difficult for fraudsters to impersonate others or engage in identity theft.

To ensure that Nigerians are carried along in this strategic move, the NCC is currently running an awareness campaign to educate the public on how to protect their personal data, avoid sharing sensitive information with strangers, and recognize common tactics used in identity theft schemes.

The NCC has also implemented policies that require telecom companies to protect subscriber data from unauthorized access.

These regulations aim to ensure that personal information is not leaked or misused by third parties.

The Commission is also promoting capacity building in cybersecurity through training and collaboration with local and international bodies. This helps improve the country’s ability to prevent and respond to identity theft incidents.