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, soon egged him into joining. However, for Samuel, there was a strange, spiritual element to his deceptive tricks, widely known in Ghana as 'sakawa'. “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’.”
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