Nigerian romance scammer who convinced Aussie to send him $60,000 is caught

A Nigerian online romance scammer will have to pay his Australian victim back $60,000 after his lies finally caught up with him.

Ogenevowero Emefeke, 37, was arrested on May 22 by the Nigeria Police Force – National Cyber Crimes Centre after an international operation involving South Australian police.

Emefeke from the capital, Abuja, is accused of running a complex con where he set up fake online accounts and pretended to be well known celebrities.

He would then approach his targets through social media and gain their trust over weeks and months by ‘playing on their emotions to swindle them of their resources’.

Nigerian police force operatives arrested Emefeke following ‘actionable intelligence’ provided by the SA Police Force.

Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the Aussie victim’s money is in the process of being returned.

‘The suspect, in a written statement during Police interview, freely admitted to having committed the fraud and several others dating back to 2021,’ Mr Adejobi said.

‘Investigation further revealed that the victims are usually vulnerable men and women in desperate search for emotional comfort and fame.’

He warned the public to have ‘restraint in engaging in businesses and relationships with individuals whose real identities have not been physically verified.’

Emefeke will be charged at the completion of the investigation.

Australians have lost more than $190million to online scams this year alone (stock image)

Nigeria has long been known as a hotbed for online scammers – particularly romance scams and ‘419’ or Nigerian Prince scams.

A 2012 Microsoft research paper analysed data and showed more than half of all email scams in that year originated from the country.

But in recent years other African nations along with Eastern European and Asian countries have seen a huge surge in fraudsters looking to dupe victims with even more bizarre and tricky cons.

Australians have lost more then $190million to scams this year alone, according to Scamwatch.