Report sent in by freelance Nigerian
journalist, Ihechukwu Njoku about a
fraudster who made some shocking
confessions at the Synagogue church
recentl
y. Read below...
A Nigerian internet fraudster known as
the ‘king of dating’ for his sophisticated
tactics of online manipulation has given
an eye-opening confession at a Lagos-
based church. Samuel Johnson, an Edo
State indigene, explained that his journey
into advanced internet scamming began in
The University of Port Harcourt after he
joined the ‘Black-Axe’ cult.
“I followed them into a very thick forest
during the night of initiation,” the young
man narrated. He was just 19 years old at
the time. “We reached a place where
there was a candle and a coffin encircled
by 50 young men. They tortured us with
canes until we started bleeding. They
then cut my tongue on a razor blade and
gave me something to drink.”
The quiet, intelligent student changed
drastically from that day onward. “It was
like I had two people living inside me,” he
recalled. “I became very aggressive. I had
this strength to want to steal and started
stealing from people. I also started
smoking and drinking excessively.
Anytime I drank, it’s like I became
stronger.”
A cult friend into online fraud, popularly
known as 419, soon egged him into
joining. However, for Samuel, there was a
strange, spiritual element to his deceptive
tricks. “There was a spirit inside me that
kept teaching me. I was not just any
fraudster; I learned it from meditating on
it. It was inbuilt. Even if I walked into a
room and money was kept there, I would
know where to find it.”
Starting by procuring foreign sim-cards
from UK and USA so as to deceive
potential victims, Samuel specifically
targeted wealthy foreign ladies in North
America. “I had pictures and pre-
recorded videos of a white man. There is
software which will replay these videos
on Skype. So, if I am Skyping with you,
you will not see my present self – you
would see this video on a webcam. I had
about 20 different videos with the same
white man and I had created stories
behind each clip. When I showed my
victims, they all believed it was real.”
Johnson explained Facebook was the
easiest way to attract prospective
‘customers’ and he had fixed a fake profile
using the same pictures in the doctored
videos he owned. “I would tell them I
was an engineer who worked and lived in
London, that I am rich and wealthy. I
wouldn’t tell them I’m not rich; it was
the money I used to drag them towards
me.”
Johnson explained how he used his boast
of huge wealth to lull victims into a false
sense of security. “Sometimes I would
ask them to help me look for a property
agent to buy a house. I would tell them I
am ready to pay for the house as soon as
I come. I would send them a fake e-
ticket and tell them I would be arriving in
two weeks. I even had a pre-recorded
video of a 12 year old girl who I
pretended was my daughter. I had this
assistant who would help me in speaking
like a small girl. There is no way you
would see that video on Skype and not
believe it is real. They buy into it
immediately. That was how I was able to
draw them to get money from them.”
To gain added confidence, Samuel would
ensure an emotional attachment was
fostered. “You make it look real. I would
send them gifts – rings, champagne,
credit cards to shop. We would have
‘phone sex’ to draw their attention even
more – that is how they believed.
Sometimes, I could be talking to 10
different women simultaneously and I
never forgot their names.”
Once such naïve trust was established,
extorting money was relatively easy, the
former fraudster explained. “I would tell
them to contact my bank. Once they give
me their details, I would make a fake
wire transfer. They would see the money
moving into their account. When it stops,
I would tell them that they have to
contact the bank and pay the ‘cost of
transfer’.”
The expert duper would even go to the
extent of getting personal bank details of
his foreign victims, and then call their
bank pretending to be an owner of the
account, change information and request
for a huge loan.
Money flowed freely. “I could make
$30,000, $80,000 - even $250,000 on a
single victim. I was living in very
luxurious and expensive hotels. I moved
to Omole Phase One, Ikeja and lived in an
apartment for which I paid N1.5m every
year. I bought all my properties in one
day. I was lavishing it. I would buy
Hennessy every day. I had to drink. The
thing is – I needed to alcohol in order for
me to perform,” he recounted.
Johnson explained that his preferred
victims were those who were high-
ranking, intelligent professionals. “We
preferred people who were educated –
people that would say, ‘It is not possible
for me to be scammed’. I attacked
lawyers through Yellow Pages in USA. I
would tell the lawyer that someone owes
me money from Michigan and the person
is living in Alaska. The person the lawyer
would contact in Alaska would be me
also. Once he talked to this ‘person’, I
would say, ‘I really owe him money and I
want to pay back $300,000’. I would send
the lawyer a cheque and once I sent it,
they would not find out from the bank if
the cheque was real; they would just
deposit it.”
Johnson gained such a reputation for his
scamming tricks that he began teaching
others, even foreigners. “I had many boys
that I was training. They called me the
‘king of dating’ because I always got what
I wanted. Sometimes I would be invited
to Benin or Lagos to teach fraud. I even
trained grown men who were 40 to 45
years old. Some were not even black or
Nigerian; some where white. They called
themselves diplomats but carried fake
money.”
With the words, ‘Money; power; respect’
tattooed on Samuels’ arm, it served as a
constant reminder of his mission. “That
was the law I lived under,” he explained.
“Sometimes, if I had emotions towards
the people I was defrauding, this tattoo
would remind me of why I entered this
business in the first place. I would say
there was no mercy.”
Samuel said he had lost count of the
people he had deceptively stolen money
from online. “I derived pleasure in doing
it. It made me feel strong – that I could
make people do what I wanted them to
do. I did not do this alone. I had bankers
as friends who helped me out. In fact, the
money I tipped them with would be more
than their salary for the whole year.”
However, despite the flamboyance and
lavish lifestyle, Samuel said his life was
bereft of joy and the money was merely
fleeting. “Whenever I got this money, it
was like chaff before the wind – it would
blow away. I never enjoyed it for one
day. I would always fight and beat any girl
I was dating. There was such anger, like
there was someone living inside me. My
life was upside down. I would always fear
that I would be involved in an accident. If
I was crossing the road, even if there was
no car coming, I would run. I was living in
isolation. I never came out during the
day. Everything was troubling me. I never
had peace. My heart was beating fast. I
behaved like someone was chasing me
whereas no one was chasing me.”
When a close friend and fellow fraudster
was shot dead point-blank at the tender
age of 23, Samuel was rudely jolted back
to reality. His life was a mess. His dreams
were dominated by violent attacks and
sexual encounters. He needed help.
When an evangelist came knocking at his
door, Samuel knew it was the voice of
God speaking – he needed Divine
intervention to start afresh.
That night, Samuel had an unusual dream.
A pastor he had only seen on a few
occasions on television came with a
message. “I saw TB Joshua in my dream.
He told me to fast for three days,” he
stated. Complying with the instruction in
the Heavenly visitation, Samuel began
nursing the desire to visit Joshua’s church
in Lagos, The Synagogue, Church Of All
Nations (SCOAN).
It was on the ‘prayer line’ at The SCOAN
that Samuel experienced what he termed
‘deliverance’. “When the man of God
touched me, I immediately saw myself
facing a judge. I felt something in
between my chest starting to pop out. I
then felt like something left me and
before I knew it, I saw myself on the
floor.”
After the prayer, Samuel testified that he
has stopped smoking, drinking and has
comipletely stopped his fraudulent
activities. His advice is short but concise.
“The only way you can achieve greatness
is when you have Christ in your heart.
Always watch and pray. Don’t just click on
any link. Don’t just share your information
with anyone. If they send you an email,
saying they need your information to
change something – don’t listen to them.
Depend only on God.”
journalist, Ihechukwu Njoku about a
fraudster who made some shocking
confessions at the Synagogue church
recentl
y. Read below...
A Nigerian internet fraudster known as
the ‘king of dating’ for his sophisticated
tactics of online manipulation has given
an eye-opening confession at a Lagos-
based church. Samuel Johnson, an Edo
State indigene, explained that his journey
into advanced internet scamming began in
The University of Port Harcourt after he
joined the ‘Black-Axe’ cult.
“I followed them into a very thick forest
during the night of initiation,” the young
man narrated. He was just 19 years old at
the time. “We reached a place where
there was a candle and a coffin encircled
by 50 young men. They tortured us with
canes until we started bleeding. They
then cut my tongue on a razor blade and
gave me something to drink.”
The quiet, intelligent student changed
drastically from that day onward. “It was
like I had two people living inside me,” he
recalled. “I became very aggressive. I had
this strength to want to steal and started
stealing from people. I also started
smoking and drinking excessively.
Anytime I drank, it’s like I became
stronger.”
A cult friend into online fraud, popularly
known as 419, soon egged him into
joining. However, for Samuel, there was a
strange, spiritual element to his deceptive
tricks. “There was a spirit inside me that
kept teaching me. I was not just any
fraudster; I learned it from meditating on
it. It was inbuilt. Even if I walked into a
room and money was kept there, I would
know where to find it.”
Starting by procuring foreign sim-cards
from UK and USA so as to deceive
potential victims, Samuel specifically
targeted wealthy foreign ladies in North
America. “I had pictures and pre-
recorded videos of a white man. There is
software which will replay these videos
on Skype. So, if I am Skyping with you,
you will not see my present self – you
would see this video on a webcam. I had
about 20 different videos with the same
white man and I had created stories
behind each clip. When I showed my
victims, they all believed it was real.”
Johnson explained Facebook was the
easiest way to attract prospective
‘customers’ and he had fixed a fake profile
using the same pictures in the doctored
videos he owned. “I would tell them I
was an engineer who worked and lived in
London, that I am rich and wealthy. I
wouldn’t tell them I’m not rich; it was
the money I used to drag them towards
me.”
Johnson explained how he used his boast
of huge wealth to lull victims into a false
sense of security. “Sometimes I would
ask them to help me look for a property
agent to buy a house. I would tell them I
am ready to pay for the house as soon as
I come. I would send them a fake e-
ticket and tell them I would be arriving in
two weeks. I even had a pre-recorded
video of a 12 year old girl who I
pretended was my daughter. I had this
assistant who would help me in speaking
like a small girl. There is no way you
would see that video on Skype and not
believe it is real. They buy into it
immediately. That was how I was able to
draw them to get money from them.”
To gain added confidence, Samuel would
ensure an emotional attachment was
fostered. “You make it look real. I would
send them gifts – rings, champagne,
credit cards to shop. We would have
‘phone sex’ to draw their attention even
more – that is how they believed.
Sometimes, I could be talking to 10
different women simultaneously and I
never forgot their names.”
Once such naïve trust was established,
extorting money was relatively easy, the
former fraudster explained. “I would tell
them to contact my bank. Once they give
me their details, I would make a fake
wire transfer. They would see the money
moving into their account. When it stops,
I would tell them that they have to
contact the bank and pay the ‘cost of
transfer’.”
The expert duper would even go to the
extent of getting personal bank details of
his foreign victims, and then call their
bank pretending to be an owner of the
account, change information and request
for a huge loan.
Money flowed freely. “I could make
$30,000, $80,000 - even $250,000 on a
single victim. I was living in very
luxurious and expensive hotels. I moved
to Omole Phase One, Ikeja and lived in an
apartment for which I paid N1.5m every
year. I bought all my properties in one
day. I was lavishing it. I would buy
Hennessy every day. I had to drink. The
thing is – I needed to alcohol in order for
me to perform,” he recounted.
Johnson explained that his preferred
victims were those who were high-
ranking, intelligent professionals. “We
preferred people who were educated –
people that would say, ‘It is not possible
for me to be scammed’. I attacked
lawyers through Yellow Pages in USA. I
would tell the lawyer that someone owes
me money from Michigan and the person
is living in Alaska. The person the lawyer
would contact in Alaska would be me
also. Once he talked to this ‘person’, I
would say, ‘I really owe him money and I
want to pay back $300,000’. I would send
the lawyer a cheque and once I sent it,
they would not find out from the bank if
the cheque was real; they would just
deposit it.”
Johnson gained such a reputation for his
scamming tricks that he began teaching
others, even foreigners. “I had many boys
that I was training. They called me the
‘king of dating’ because I always got what
I wanted. Sometimes I would be invited
to Benin or Lagos to teach fraud. I even
trained grown men who were 40 to 45
years old. Some were not even black or
Nigerian; some where white. They called
themselves diplomats but carried fake
money.”
With the words, ‘Money; power; respect’
tattooed on Samuels’ arm, it served as a
constant reminder of his mission. “That
was the law I lived under,” he explained.
“Sometimes, if I had emotions towards
the people I was defrauding, this tattoo
would remind me of why I entered this
business in the first place. I would say
there was no mercy.”
Samuel said he had lost count of the
people he had deceptively stolen money
from online. “I derived pleasure in doing
it. It made me feel strong – that I could
make people do what I wanted them to
do. I did not do this alone. I had bankers
as friends who helped me out. In fact, the
money I tipped them with would be more
than their salary for the whole year.”
However, despite the flamboyance and
lavish lifestyle, Samuel said his life was
bereft of joy and the money was merely
fleeting. “Whenever I got this money, it
was like chaff before the wind – it would
blow away. I never enjoyed it for one
day. I would always fight and beat any girl
I was dating. There was such anger, like
there was someone living inside me. My
life was upside down. I would always fear
that I would be involved in an accident. If
I was crossing the road, even if there was
no car coming, I would run. I was living in
isolation. I never came out during the
day. Everything was troubling me. I never
had peace. My heart was beating fast. I
behaved like someone was chasing me
whereas no one was chasing me.”
When a close friend and fellow fraudster
was shot dead point-blank at the tender
age of 23, Samuel was rudely jolted back
to reality. His life was a mess. His dreams
were dominated by violent attacks and
sexual encounters. He needed help.
When an evangelist came knocking at his
door, Samuel knew it was the voice of
God speaking – he needed Divine
intervention to start afresh.
That night, Samuel had an unusual dream.
A pastor he had only seen on a few
occasions on television came with a
message. “I saw TB Joshua in my dream.
He told me to fast for three days,” he
stated. Complying with the instruction in
the Heavenly visitation, Samuel began
nursing the desire to visit Joshua’s church
in Lagos, The Synagogue, Church Of All
Nations (SCOAN).
It was on the ‘prayer line’ at The SCOAN
that Samuel experienced what he termed
‘deliverance’. “When the man of God
touched me, I immediately saw myself
facing a judge. I felt something in
between my chest starting to pop out. I
then felt like something left me and
before I knew it, I saw myself on the
floor.”
After the prayer, Samuel testified that he
has stopped smoking, drinking and has
comipletely stopped his fraudulent
activities. His advice is short but concise.
“The only way you can achieve greatness
is when you have Christ in your heart.
Always watch and pray. Don’t just click on
any link. Don’t just share your information
with anyone. If they send you an email,
saying they need your information to
change something – don’t listen to them.
Depend only on God.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment