Two Nigerian men have been arrested in Johannesburg today for kidnapping a Swedish national after luring him through a “419” scam.
Kenth Sadaaki Suzuki was rescued unharmed. Suzuki was apparently lured to South Africa by a group of Nigerians after he fell for a scam e-mail.
Police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo says the men met their victim at OR Tambo International Airport this morning and transported him to a house in Rosettenville where they robbed him and demanded a ransom of R235 000.
Head of police detective services, Rayman Lalla tracked down the perpetrators and rescued Suzuki.
This case comes a few weeks after it had been reported that, the global economy looses about $200 billion per year to cyber thieves.
According to Nigerian based Global Network for Cyber Solutions (GNCS), this alarming amount has prompted calls to include the menace as a threat to the security and peace of the world. The infamous scam called Advance Fee Fraud or 419 scam is marked as one of the largest contributors to the misappropriation of global funds, a threat to the global economy.
GNCS also claimed that the African banking industry needs to be protected from cyber crooks who invented this tantalizing crime. The banks in Nigeria also added that they have lost about N7.3 Billion owing to fraudulent activities.
Further, almost every internet user has received the famous e-mail in which the sender solicits help in shifting millions of dollars from his country to the bank account of the user in return for a small commission.
The GNCS also added that the apparent effect of this challenge to emerging economies has become a huge digital nightmare for Africa. With the spread of cheap Internet services and low cost of Internet connectivity, it is anticipated that cyber crime will increase exponentially.
By Samuel Mungadze
