BLACK DOLLAR SCAM: Nigerian Fraudster Held in India

Visakhapatnam, India -- Frido
Ambrose and two other scamsters
defrauded people of lakhs of
rupees in an online lottery fraud
by delivering packets of black
paper instead of currency notes
The Nigerian national, Frido Ambrose
(35), who duped a city woman of
Rs.2.32 lakh (N651,915) in a 'black
dollar scam' and arrested by the City
Police on Wednesday, was presented
before the media on Thursday.
Giving details to the media, Deputy
Commissioner of Police (Law and
Order) P. Viswa Prasad said Ambrose
and two other scamsters had
defrauded people of lakhs of rupees
(hundreds thousands of rupees) by
making them believe that they had
won a lottery organised by Microsoft/
RBI and then delivering packets of
black paper instead of currency
notes.
Rupavathi, a post-graduate student,
received an e-mail on May 24 saying
that she had won an annual prize of
1 million pounds (252,923,492.35
NGN). She paid Rs.21,000 (N59,010)
into an SBI account as directed by
the fraudsters. Within hours, she
received another mail from the 'RBI'
saying that she was the lucky winner
of 1 million pounds and directed her
to pay Rs.2.31 lakh (N651,915)
towards the 'cost of transfer of the
prize money'.
Mr. Viswa Prasad said that the girl
informed her parents and they sold
their coconut grove and deposited
Rs.2.31 lakh (N651,915) in
instalments in different accounts as
sought by the fraudsters. Rupavathi,
however, became suspicious after
the accused wanted her address to
deliver the prize money.
She invited the fraudster to
Visakhapatnam and laid a trap with
the help of the police. The accused
was arrested when he arrived at the
residence of the complainant.
Dubious website
He had an electronic safe, which
contained small packets of hard
black paper concealed in white
cotton. The DCP said that during the
course of investigation it was found
that the accused and his associates
had created a fake RBI website and
sent text messages to randomly-
selected people stating that they had
won huge amounts of money.
Those who fell in their trap were
asked to deposit money in various
accounts. The accused would give
their victims a tax code in exchange
of that money to enable them
transfer the prize money into their
accounts. They would then fool their
victims with black paper saying they
were defaced US dollars, which could
be restored by applying a chemical.
Mr. Viswa Prasad said that the
accused came to Mumbai on
business purpose in 2008. His visa,
which seemed to be genuine, had
expired in June 2011.
Though he claims to be only an
agent of the fraudulent company, he
has been overstaying in the country.