The Kaduna State Police Command on Wednesday said it arrested a syndicate of three internet fraudsters who are notorious for defrauding unsuspecting students of the Kaduna State University (KASU) of their tuition fees.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the Command, ASP Mansir Hassan told newsmen that the suspects have over time defrauded about 300 students to the tune of N60 million.
According to Mansir, the suspects are Muhammad Uthman Busari of Nariya Kaduna, AbdulAzeez Hamza of Hayin Dan-mani Kaduna, and Noel Nims Audiya.
Explaining how these suspects carried out their nefarious activities Mansir said, they were known for compromising the students’ registration portal and took undue advantage of students who chose to pay their fees online rather than via the normal banking platforms.
“The suspects often collect tuition fees from students in full but will pay a lesser amount into the State’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) and go further to intercept and manipulate the electronic transaction receipts from the TSA to read complete payment.
He said the suspects have so far “short-changed over three hundred students of KASU and the total amount involved is put at over N60 million out of which the principal suspect Muhammad Uthman Busari have used in building and furnishing a house, purchase of a car, electronic appliances, gadgets and plots of lands in both Kaduna and Kwara States.
“The suspects have since been charged to court for prosecution”, he said.
The PPRO further added that to checkmate the activities of computer-related crimes in the State, the Kaduna Commissioner of Police, A D Ali, has established a cybercrime unit, targeted at investigating cybercrime-related offences.
The Police Spokesman informed that victims of social media accounts hacking, fake purchase alerts, deceptive social romance, and cryptocurrency/Forex frauds among many other offences within the State can now report such for action.
