-How fraudsters’ milk victims of several billions
+ victims recount their ordeals
With over 33 million subscribers, Badoo, which is arguably one of the most popular social networking services online, has become the haven for promiscuous people and fraudsters to perpetrate their evil doings. Sadly, a lot of people have become prey to the modus operandi of these agents of evil who milk their victims to the tune of over N10 billion naira.
Sahara weekly’s check revealed that most of these fraudsters perpetrated their satanic deeds by posting pictures of delectable ladies who are either their friends on other social media and impersonate them. The unsuspecting victims were swept off their feet when they saw the pictures and quickly relate with them. The modus operandi is that these fraudsters would ask their admirers to send recharge cards of N3000 before they can relate with them. We reliably gathered that over two million people have fallen victims of such. That’s a whooping N6billion.
A victim whose name is Ola Olawale disclosed that he has become prey to this practice over 10 times. “I never suspected them but was carried away by their beauty. And they have a way of demanding that before you can view their private pictures on the site, you have to send a recharge card of N3000. I later discovered that a lot of people have become victims, too. After the card, they will grant you access to view their private pictures which I later discovered were not even their own”.
Checks by us also revealed that another means of defrauding people on Badoo is that such girls lied about their location. When they hooked their admirers via the site, they asked him where he stays. If he says Lagos, they will either claim they reside in Abuja or Jos. After exchanging details, they will demand for transport fare if invited for hook-ups. Sadly, our investigation revealed that some of them are runs girls who stays in Ikeja or Festac, Lagos. “I came across a lady on badoo who informed me that she stays in Abuja. And because I like her, I invited her sent money to her account for flight. Sadly, I discovered she lived in Festac.” Some of the people we spoke to also confirmed the ugly trend. Some said they discovered their deceit through applications they installed on their whatsapp and phones. Sadly, several billions have been gotten through this means from millions of subscribers over the years.
One major thing Badoo is now known for is prostitution. It has become the haven for promiscuous people to get a sex partner. Insiders revealed to us that Badoo has become the easiest place to hook up either a lady or a guy for sexual activities across the globe. We learnt that almost all the runs girls in Nigeria have a Badoo account and they get massive patronage even from dignitaries who use fictitious identities.
Recently, a five-man gang of kidnappers and thieves, Micheal Eneji, his brother, Emmanuel Eneji, Chukwu Chibueze, Gift Princess, and Lekia Emmaden Isaac, who have been in the deadly game for a while now, were arrested by Rivers State police command.
They confessed using pretty girls’ pictures to entice men from the dating site in other to rob them and later leave them in the bush to die. The gang leader, Michael Eneji, 27, whose fiancée is the only female among them narrated how they carry out their operations.
In his words: “When I couldn’t afford to pay my school fees, I decided to go into love dating scam. I dwell mainly on Badoo chat that most Nigerian men visit regularly. I surf the net and selected pictures of black models and impersonate them. As soon as they see these pictures, some will send a message and I will reply. They will ask for my number and I will give them. I also have a Techno phone that has a special voice prompt that allows a man to sound like a woman.
Once I establish a contact, I will go to the next step which is to convince them that I will satisfy their sexual urge.
“Pretending to be a big girl, I would tell them to meet me at a Confoil petrol station, before the trailer park along Eleme road while one of my boys, Chibueze will go there and meet them as my domestic servant and direct them to my house. To convince them to come, I will claim that I live in one of the estates alone and it will be safer to meet there so that they will not be caught.
“In their car, Chibueze will tell them to drive towards a deserted place where we will lay ambush. Dressed in police uniform, we will stop them and demand to know what they are doing in such a deserted place. We will overpower them and tie their hands and legs while we take their valuables, including their ATM cards.
“Two of us will go to the bank and withdraw money from their account through their ATM. If there is no money in the account, we will loosen the rope and disappear. This will enable the person to untie himself and go home.”
According to Eneji, they have fleeced so many men before they were arrested. “I never knew that Mr. Disi and Shola did not escape till I was arrested. I can only recall that both of them had so much money in their accounts. Thus, we decided to keep them for some days to enable us h withdraw enough money from their accounts”, he added.
On how he lured their latest victim, the suspect said: “Shola showed interest in having an affair with the lady he saw on my Badoo display picture. He demanded to see her, so I told him that I am free around 7pm and he told me that it was the perfect time to hang out.
“At about that time, he drove to the spot with his driver and Chibueze, who was on ground, joined him. He directed them to the spot and we took over the car, tied him and the driver up. He did not have much cash with him unlike the others. When we got to the bank, I realised that he had about N4.5 million in his account. Blindfolded, we took him further into the bush and decided to keep him there for some days to enable us to empty that account while the driver must have escaped from the initial spot where he was tied. Few days later, we were arrested. I never knew that he did not escape alive,” Eneji narrated.
Continuing, he said: “The second victim, Mr Disu was not my contract. It was Elijah the leader of another group that contracted me to help execute the job. I became interested when he told me that the maga (the late Disu) works with Shell company. All I did was to lure him to visit by promising him good sex. I do not know if they killed him because of the huge amount that was found in his account. The truth is that we do not kill, but rob them of their valuables. We will sell the car, withdraw as much as we can from their ATM and disappear. We know that such crime might not be reported because the man will not tell his family or the police why he was robbed to protect his image. It is unfortunate that they died; we left them there still breathing. The only difference is that we did not loosen the rope so that they can easily escape.”
On the role of the lady in their midst, Eneji said: “She is my fiancée and I normally use her to further convince our target to assume that we are real. If the target insists that I should come and see him, I will send my girl to go and meet him. She will be the one that will lure them to the spot where we can take over.”
He also revealed that he is known in Badoo as Cindy and Empress. “Once you search for beautiful models on Google search, you will have so many options. If you want so many toasters, select the ones that expose their breasts. I am terribly sorry that these men died in the process. We found out that it is easier to collect money in exchange for sex.
“I dropped out of school because my rich relatives refused to help my mother to train us. I can only get money from them if I send a woman to go and seduce them”
Badoo is a dating-focused social networking service, founded in 2006 and headquarters in Soho, London. The site operates in 180 countries and is most popular in Latin America, Spain, Italy, France and Nigeria. Badoo ranks as the 157th most popular website in the world, according to Alexa Internet as of April 2014. The site operates on a premium model. To gain extra features, a user can pay a fee or allow Badoo to email all his/her friends.
It was founded by the Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev and launched in London in November 2006. In 2007 it raised $30 million in funding.
In January 2008, the Russian investor Finam Capital paid $30 million for a 10% stake in Badoo for expansion in Russia. As of 2009, Finam now has 20% ownership of Badoo. In September 2009, Blendr, “powered by” Badoo, appeared in the iTunes app store.
In April 2011 Badoo was threatened by Facebook with an audit and potential removal if it didn’t make its Facebook app less viral. According to Insidefacebook.com, during the week of January 11, Badoo was ranked 17th in growing Facebook apps. The official Badoo USA launch was on March 23, 2012, with Nick Cannon introducing the service in the United States. In April 2012, the company entered into a marketing agreement with the site Hot or Not to display its members in the companies service.
Badoo is a premium service, where the basic service is free for everyone but users have an option to pay for premium features. As soon as members sign up they can chat, upload photos and videos. Users can see and contact people who live in their area using the “People Nearby” feature or in a different city or part of the world using the “Search” feature. Another free feature is the “Encounters” game where users click yes or no on other users’ photos and if there is a match the two users are notified. For a fee, users can use the “Rise Up” feature which allows users to pay to give their profile more visibility on the site for a limited time. Badoo’s communications director Lucy George said that as of late 2007 20% of Badoo’s 22 million users were paying for heightened visibility at least once a month.