Mike on Crime

By Bruce Owen
Winnipeg Free Press

An 84-year-old man allegedly swindled out of $30,000 in a Nigerian e-mail scam turned the tables on a suspect in the case who came knocking to collect even more money, city police said Wednesday.

The retired Winnipeg doctor called police about what happened to him and let officers into his home to arrest the suspect the moment he stepped through the door.

“Our officers were waiting,” police spokeswoman Const. Jacqueline Chaput said.

She said the shameless suspect had just flown in from Toronto to collect another $7,800 from the victim — plus another few hundred dollars to cover his airfare.

The suspect, a Nigerian refugee who’s been living in Canada for one year, at first allegedly gave police a false name. But investigators soon sorted out his identity.

Police believe he was an agent for a fraud ring. He is now in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre and will appear in court Friday.
Chaput said the arrest was the first one in Canada outside of Toronto where police caught someone in connection to a worldwide fraud ring that has stung thousands of people for more than a decade.

How the case came to Winnipeg is a textbook example of how the Nigerian e-mail scam works, Chaput said.

Starting last April, the senior was barraged by unsolicited e-mails, asking him to wire more than $30,000 to Ghana, Africa to finance an inheritance of $1.5 million. Who had supposedly bequeathed him the money is not known.

It’s called ‘the Nigerian scam’ as law enforcement believes most of those involved originate from the east African country.

Rather than hit the “delete” button, he wired $30,000 from his personal savings, expecting to get a windfall in return.

It didn’t happen.

Instead, the creators of the e-mail asked him for even more money, as by now they knew who he was and where he lived.

The victim agreed — but this time he called police. “I called them and the police came here and caught that man when he came here,” said the man Wednesday, at his Osborne Village condominium.

It’s unlikely the victim will ever see his $30,000 again.

The man — who did not want his name released or photo taken — said he fears he’ll be targetted by members of the “dangerous” gang that pressured him for money.

Wednesday night, he shuffled quickly to lock the door behind him and kept the phone number of a police detective next to his phone for consultation.

“A promise of $1.5 million, you should question where it’s coming from,” Chaput said.

Police urge people who get similar e-mails, or a letter or phone call, to contact Phonebusters at www.phonebusters.com. If a person has lost money in this type of scam they should report the loss to police.

Toluwalade Alonge Owolabi is charged with numerous offences including fraud over $5,000, fraud under $5,000, and two counts of possession of a credit card obtained by fraud.