• "I get a ton of scam emails. But instead of deleting them, I decided to hit reply."  - James Veitch

    A 48 year old man from Nigeria, who goes by the name Julius Anyawu Uche was arraigned before a court yesterday for impersonating the first lady of the country, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, and attempting to defraud people around the world of approximately $20.5million.

    Julius was charged with 10 offences under the cyber-crimes legislation after scam emails were sent in the name of Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha Buhari.

    In a twist of events however, despite the face that evidences showed that the defendant actually sent the scam emails, he pleaded not guilty before a Federal High Court judge sitting in Lagos State, Nigeria. 

    He has been remanded in custody until further hearing at the same court on January 18, meaning that he will spend his Christmas and New Year holidays sweating behind bars.

    Two other men were also remanded in police custody until the same date for similar offences. It is no news that cyber-crime and internet fraud are very popular in Nigeria, and this has continued to hamper the country's image.

    In what sounded like a comedy thriller, one of the others accused, Agu Ifeanyi George, 48, allegedly pretended to be a medical doctor seeking funds to relocate from war-torn Syria with her family.

    Nigeria's reputation of online fraud, with scammers often seen celebrated in the country for their untraceable wealth has tarnished the country's image in many ways. Authorities must therefore act fast to remedy the situation.

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