No fewer than four Nigerians have been arrested in India over alleged fraud and impersonation offences.

It was gathered from separate reports by the Times of India on Monday that three suspects identified as Chinedu, Sunday and Jules were arrested by the Gurugram police over alleged social media fraud involving the impersonation of women to deceive victims.

The fourth suspect, 49-year-old Uchenwa, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force on Friday.

According to the report published on Sunday, police recovered 19 mobile phones, one laptop, and 18 Indian and international SIM cards from Chinedu, Sunday, and Jules.

Police said the investigation began after a man filed a complaint on April 25 last year, claiming he was defrauded by a woman he met on Instagram.

“The girl told him that she had arrived in India and she needed Rs 69,900 as registration fees to exchange his cheque for Indian currency at the Mumbai airport,” the police said.

The victim later realised he had been scammed after transferring the money.

During the investigation, police tracked and arrested the suspects in Noida late Thursday night.

Police said Sunday entered India illegally through Bangladesh in 2022, while Chinedu and Jules entered the country on study visas in 2018 and 2017, respectively.

“The accused used to talk to people living in India, posing as girls on social media platforms, and by gaining their trust, they committed the frauds,” a police officer said.

In a separate report, The Times of India said Uchenwa allegedly created fake social media profiles, using identities of citizens from the United States and the United Kingdom to target Indian men and women.

According to the report, victims were emotionally manipulated and later deceived with promises of expensive gifts, foreign currency and luxury items supposedly being sent to India.

The report added that victims were later contacted by people posing as customs or tax officials who demanded payments for customs duty, GST, income tax or clearance charges before the items could be released.

The STF noted that the case started after a resident of Daliganj in Lucknow reported that he was defrauded of about Rs 68 lakh by the syndicate.

The victim explained that he received a Facebook friend request in August 2025 from a woman identified as “Doris Williams” from England.

After gaining his trust, the report said the woman allegedly claimed she planned to visit India with nearly Rs 3 crore worth of money.

The victim later received calls from people posing as customs officials, who claimed the woman had been detained at the Delhi airport for carrying a large amount of foreign currency.

He was said to have first asked to pay Rs 61,500 in customs clearance charges through a UPI account linked to the suspects.

The report added that the fraudsters later demanded more payments under different charges, leading the victim to transfer nearly Rs 40 lakh to several accounts. Another suspect, posing as a remittance officer, allegedly convinced him to transfer an additional Rs 28 lakh.

The victim reportedly continued making payments until January 2026 before discovering he had been defrauded and reporting the matter to the police.

The STF disclosed that its cybercrime team launched an operation under the supervision of ASP Vishal Vikram Singh, leading to Uchenwa’s arrest in Delhi through technical surveillance and intelligence gathering.

According to the report, Uchenwa admitted he travelled to India in 2010 for the garment business but later switched to cyber fraud after suffering financial losses.

The arrests add to several recent reports of Nigerians abroad being linked to crimes such as fraud, impersonation, robbery, and drug trafficking. (The PUNCH)

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