‘I get charms for my Yahoo plus from Benin Republic’

Yahoo plus is what is trending in the cybercrime world today. It’s an off shoot of YahooYahoo. According to some cyber-fraudsters; Yahoo plus came to be because, “white people are no longer falling victims and getting dollars from them has become very difficult!” Yahoo plus is the fusion of black magic into cybercrime, which is supposed to spell bind the white folks wherever they are, to cough out dollars.
A few sceptics may not believe this, but many Nigerians apparently believe in the efficacy of black magic in cybercrime, to the extent that it inspired several Nigerian movies. An internet fraudster, arrested in 2013 by detectives at Adeniji Adele Police Station, who identified himself by different names; Joseph Sarumi, Akeem Ahmed and Femi, said: “ Yahoo plus is the use of juju to make the white people to fall and pay money.
There’s no money in YahooYahoo anymore. Any Yahoo person you see driving expensive cars and making it big on internet scam, is into Yahoo Plus.” An internet fraudster, who wishes to be known simply as Chidi, said he had to call a halt to the life of crime in October, 2013, after he went with some friends deep into the heart of Benin Republic, to meet a juju man, who gave them power to be able to milk white folks through the internet or phony phone calls.
Chidi said that they were three young men that embarked on that journey. They had heard about Yahoo Plus from other fraudsters and did not know how to go about it. Another internet fraudster in Benin Republic soon introduced them to it.

 In October 2013, very early one morning, the three friends went to Benin Republic.
They met their Benin Republic contact. The following day, the friend took them to an aged man, who took them deep into a village, where they met another aged man, later referred to as the juju man. Recalling the event at the village, Chidi said: “All I can remember is that we spent a lot of money at that shrine. We bought three life chickens and other items, which were used to prepare concoctions for us.


I remembered there were a lot of incantations. Each of us was brought in front of the shine, for the juju to check us out and know if our luck would work in Yahoo Plus. When it got to the turn of our third friend, the juju man wasted a lot of time on him, chanting incantations. The juju man said that someone cursed our friend against becoming successful in life. It took a lot of spiritual work before his luck turned around.
We got there in the morning and left late in the night.” Before they left the shrine, a bottle of honey, strange looking concoctions and soaps were given to them. “We were supposed to put the honey in our mouths and type or say anything to a white person and the person would do whatever we wanted.
Our words would sound, truthful and convincing to them.” According to him, he became restive after he got home. He couldn’t sleep and eat. He was physically, spiritually and psychologically disturbed. “I kept asking myself how on earth I would serve Almighty God and then another god in a shrine.
They had told us that we should be coming often to pay homage to the juju in the shrine. We were supposed to take an oath and pledged with anything. We were also supposed to bring money to the juju man anytime we hit!” He later threw all the items away.
“I had never been a spiritual person until I embarked on that journey. That journey made me realise I was getting too deep into this YahooYahoo crime.” After a while, one of his friends called him, screaming with joy that he had started making it.
“That my friend had bad luck when it comes to YahooYahoo. But after that journey, he started hitting 3000 dollars and more. He also later threw away his items after I told him my fears. If Devil gives you one thing, he would collect three from you.
There’s always a price tag!” He further revealed that the charms could come in different ways, depending on the medicine man someone was using. He recollected that one of their friends did one with his laptop.
“Nobody was supposed to use his laptop except him. His brother used the laptop and died. Another used his lover, who started menstruating for days until she died. Some would make an incision on their chins or tongue and speak to the white person,” revealed Chidi.
A Human Right Activist and Anti-Corruption crusader at Shomolu Bariga, Mr. Olatunde Vincent, said YahooYahoo thrived, until victim became aware of the fraudsters antics and business waned. “It now became a problem for the boys. Money was not flowing. The boys went occult and into rituals,” said Vincent.
He added: “Yahoo plus is when you use black magic or any spiritual powers to get victims. It’s supposed to compel a victim through remote control to pay money into a fraudster’s account! These boys patronize herbalists, prophets, mediums.
They sleep in grave yards. They do all sorts of spiritual cleansing. Another form of Yahoo plus is armed robbery.
These boys go into robbery but make people believe they are into yahoo. “There are many of them who have benefitted but the pains they undergo cannot be explained. Sometimes, every night they receive flogging from unseen spirits. Sometimes they go to grave yards every night. “Do you know most of these Yahoo plus boys use girls for rituals? They sleep with the girls and collect the semen from the girls’ private parts. Suddenly, the girl will become sickly and emaciated and later die while the yahoo boy becomes richer. “Most of these boys die sudden death or later go insane. Kids no longer believe in the dignity of labour!” Miss. Ngozi Osuji, a University of Lagos, Geography graduate, said that Yahoo plus had been in existence for long.
She revealed that a family friend, living overseas once received a phone call, with restricted number. After some incantations from the unknown caller, the man rushed to send money, equivalent to N200, 000, to details given to him. After he came to his senses, he ran back to the bank, but it was too late.
The Nigerian Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) spokesperson, Mrs. Ngozi Isintume-Agu, said she had not heard of Yahoo plus, but would find out from the Officer in Charge of Cybercrime and get back to the journalist. But as at press time, she was yet to call.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Head of Media, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren said that he would also find out from the Head of Cybercrime, Mr. Chukor, but what he finally came out with, was the literal meaning of Yahoo plus, not the occult it had become.