The first prosecution witness in the trial of a Chinese national who is among the 792 cyberterrorism and internet fraud suspects arrested in Lagos in December 2024 has provided insights into how he and many other Nigerian youths were hired to be part of the syndicate and use fake identities to lure potential targets – particularly men from European countries.
The witness, Rowland Turaki, a cybersecurity student testified on Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where tens of Chinese nationals from the alleged syndicate have been charged before separate judges, a statement from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stated on Saturday.
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According to EFCC, the defendant, Hong Will, and other alleged members of the syndicate of 792 alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects, including the witness, were arrested at their hideout in Lagos on 10 December 2024.
The hideout, EFCC said, is an imposing seven-storey edifice known as Big Leaf Building, on 7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
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The EFCC arraigned Mr Will alongside their company, Genting International Company Limited, on 31 January on three counts of cybercrimes, cyber-terrorism, possession of documents containing false pretence and identity theft.
On Friday, defence lawyer B.A. Omateno initially sought the postponement of trial, saying she might not be able to cross-examine the first prosecution witness due to the tedious nature of the case.
Trial judge, Deinde Dipeolu, dismissed the lawyer’s submission as not strong enough to warrant postponing the proceedings.
With the judge’s directive for trial to commence, Mr Turaki was called to the witness box.
Led in evidence by the prosecuting lawyer, Ms Buhari, the witness told the court that he was one of the employees of the Chinese standing trial for alleged cyber terrorism and internet fraud. He said the Nigerian recruits were aged between 20 and 30 years old.
He told the court how he was instructed by his employers to present himself as a female to gain clients’ trust.
How I was recruited
He told the judge that he stumbled on the advert for a customer service representative role at a company.
“I met him at the office, where we work. He is one of our employers. Sometime in mid- November, I was on Jiji.ng looking for a laptop for my cybersecurity studies, so I saw an advert of a job opening for a Customer Service representative role at a Company and the pay was 250k. I clicked on the ad and I was directed to a page with a WhatsApp number, which I was asked to message. I messaged the number and I was added to the group.
“On the group, we were given an address and time to come in for the interview. I went to the address at 7, Oyin Jolayemi in Victoria Island, Lagos for the interview. I was tested for my typing skills and not for my computer proficiency skills. The test was to beat a 30-word mark in one minute; and if that’s done, you are hired.
“I expected follow-up questions, but there was none. I was told to resume the next day and I was informed of the rules and regulations of the company. I was also told of the salary structure as well as accommodation and transportation arrangement. I went back home and packed my stuff to resume at work the next day.”
The scripts
In his further testimony, he spoke of how his employer handed him a script for his role which involved communicating with and befriending clients, mostly men from European countries.
: “On getting to work, I was given a script and some information needed as a guideline for my role in the company. My employers told me I had to memorise all that I was given as a guideline for my new role. For the next three days, I was made to study the script, which I will use to speak to clients.
“I was given a chat template; a set of instructions containing conversation between Genting International Company Ltd. and a client. The chat was basically befriending the client and gaining the client’s trust. A roadmap of how the chat will go and what to say.
ALSO READ: Again, EFCC arraigns 11 Chinese nationals for alleged cyber-terrorism, internet fraud in Lagos
“I was to present myself as a woman to gain the client’s trust. I was told not to deviate from the template and adhere strictly to it. After three days of training, they provided me with a desktop computer. We were given numbers to contact. We had a time duration of five days to gain the client’s trust, using the template provided. I started chatting with multiple people , mostly men from European countries.”
Modus operandi
According to the witness, the company had a model, whose job was to make operatives believable to the “client” during video calls.
“The name of the model assigned to me is Amity Smith. The job of the model was to gain complete trust of the client,” he said.
He added that once the client’s confidence was gained, his employers would take over relating with the client.
“Once this has been done, and trust gained, my employers will send a message on the telegram group and tell us to hand off and they take over from us. We stop chatting with the client and move on to the next. Our supervisors are Chinese. I received payment for the duration of my stay, via a bank transfer,” he said.
Move to quit, threats, security
He said he contemplated quitting the organisation after working for three weeks due to pressure and the demand of the job.
“I spent about three weeks at the company. I had not gotten the company the number of clients required and I was pressured for it. We were given deadlines and threats of sacking without pay and there were fines. Because of this, I decided to leave the company and when I told my superiors that I wanted to resign, a memo was passed around that if you want to leave you have to give 15 days’ notice, otherwise, you will leave without getting a dime,“ the witness said.
He added that leaving was an easy venture due to threats from his employers and presence of armed police officers on the premises.
“My employer had armed police presence in the work and accommodation premises. Based on the pressure from my employers, I didn’t think it was wise to flee given the high level of security presence at the premises and I wanted to get paid.
“I wanted to get medication at a time, but the Chinese people told the security men not to let us go.
“When they saw that we were creating a scene, they told the security men to forcefully send us back. We were mostly youths of age 20 to 30. They threatened us and it contributed to my decision to leave. Unfortunately, the EFCC arrested us before I could do that,” the witness said.
The judge adjourned the trial until 18 March.
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