The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested a Lagos
State University graduate for cloning the Facebook accounts of prominent
Nigerians and using same to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.
Anthony Ezechukwu, 38, had successfully used the names of Finance
Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; wives of Lagos State Governor, Dame
Abimbola Fashola, Federal Capital Territory Minister, Aisha Bala
Mohammed and the Director of the Abuja Geographical Information Systems,
AGIS, Jamilah Tangaza to transact his illegal business and smile to the
bank
Investigation revealed that in each of the instances, Ezechukwu
devised clever baits to lure his victims. Once he successfully opened a
Facebook account with the false identity of a Mrs. Fashola, he began to
send out messages soliciting for friendship, which yielded enormous
responses from innocent respondents, who wanted to seize the moment to
be friend to the Lagos First Lady.
But on noticing the stream of friends on the Facebook, the suspect
started directing them to ‘her personal assistant’, who in turn demanded
for various sums of money from them to connect them with influential
people in government and the society.