A 22-year-old 100Level student of the Nigerian
Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos State, Falope Oluwole Israel, has been
arrested for defrauding over 33 men via Instagram, while posing as a lady.
Israel was arrested by operatives of the Rapid
Response Squad (RRS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command.
He told police that he had duped over 33 men, while
pretending to be a lady on Instagram.
The suspect was arrested after one of his victims, Bernard,
whom he duped N1million from, reported him to the police.
He said that since he started the fraudulent act two
years ago, he had duped no fewer than 33 men. He confessed that the least
amount he received from any of his victim was N80, 000.
He said: “When I started, much as I pretended to be
a lady on phone, some men on the other side didn’t believe me. I then
downloaded an app on Google which transformed my voice into that of a lady
whenever I was having a conversation on phone. I got several pictures of
Shayla, a pretty United States based lady on my profile. Since then, men have
been disturbing and calling me, to request for a date. What I do is that I
assess people based on their appearance on Instagram, add them and thereafter
open up conversations with them before I bring up all manners of stories in
order to dupe them.
“At a point, I lied to most of them that I had an
accident and lost my ATM. I would tell them that I needed some money. Some of
them were generous enough to drop money into my account. I lied to them that I
was putting up a boutique and saloon at Ikota, VGC and Lekki, and that I need
money to finish setting up. I know I made a mistake downloading Shayla’s
pictures and used them for fraudulent purposes.”
Israel was trailed to a popular club in Ikeja City
Mall on Thursday evening, before arresting him. He was arrested after weeks of
being monitored.
A police source said: “Investigations revealed that the
suspect recently celebrated his birthday at Hard & Rock, Lekki, Lagos, week
before his arrest, where he lavished over half a million on foods and drinks.”
The police further said: “The suspect’s activities
on Instagram were placed under investigations when we received a complaint
about an Instagram handle @blackberbiedoll, used for criminal activities, which
was later, traced to him. Apart from @blackberbiedoll, which he prominently
used for fraudulent activities, he maintained @froshwhite007 and @froshwhite
separately for same purpose.”
Recalling how he was hoodwinked, the complainant,
Bernard stated that he got a friend request from @blackberbiedoll.
He added: “The
picture on the account was that of a lady. The lady in question messaged me on
BBM. Honestly, I thought I was chatting with a woman who claimed to be in
Nigeria at the time. She lied to me that her father was a Nigerian and her mum,
a Kenyan, and so we got talking. “At a point, she lied that she was building a
beauty outfit in Ikota Shopping Mall, VGC and that she was in need of some
money to complete the mall. I had to transfer N1million to her. Weeks later, I
grew suspicious of the account name Olawole Israel Oluwaseun Falope. I ran a
search on Google, and then discovered it was all scam.
Immediately, I reported the incident to Instagram
and that account was blocked and later suspended to prevent others from falling
victim.”
Another victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, said
that he paid N100, 000 into the suspect’s account to support ‘her’ bogus
fashion outfit.
Investigations revealed that the owner of the
profile pictures the suspect used, @Shayla had complained to Instagram that
some Nigerians were using her profile pictures to scam unsuspecting members of
the public.
It was also disclosed that the suspect claimed to be
a friend of Toke Makinwa, Tonto Dike, Don jazzy, Peter Okoye, Toyin Aihmaku,
Tee Y Mix, Oristsefemi, Timaya, Sean Tizzle, Dami Adenuga, Femi Otedola, Mike
Adenuga jnr, Ramsey Noah e.t.c.
Investigators confirmed that he was following a lot
of Nigerian celebrities on Instagram but they could not confirm if any of them
fell prey to Falope's antics, as many of his Instagram chats with them got no
response.
The police said that the suspect’s claims of been a half
cast, fashion designer, stylist, cosmetologist and model were all part of his
fraud to make people fall for him. He was never a trainee or a specialist in
any of this.
Items recovered from the suspect included, an iphone
6, 1 Samsung Galaxy A5, an Apple tablet, hand and neck chains, some new notes
and a handbag.
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