Beware of Nigerians’ “romance” scam – SOCU warns Guyanese

Guyanese females are being the primary target of a scam being carried out by Nigerians who are in the country illegally and out of Guyana.
Head of the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) of the Guyana Police Force Senior Superintendent Fazil Karimbaksh on Friday said that Nigerians are collaborating with Guyanese citizens to scam persons.
The SOCU boss in an alert issued on Friday said the aim is to get persons to pay for delivery packages.
“…what is referred to as ‘Package Delivery Scams or Romance Scams’ and ‘Pyramid Schemes’” Karinbaksh said in a release on Friday.
The package delivery or romance scammers have emerged more prominently during the Covid-19 pandemic. The scammers target primarily females via several social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and other Online Dating Sites.
The Senior Superintendent said the modus operandi used by the scammers is to befriend unsuspecting females via the aforementioned digital platforms.
“The scammers create fake profiles of Caucasian men with luxury vehicles and large sums of cash to gain the attention of the victims. After communicating with the victim for some time to build trust with their `new friend’ or `love interest’, the scammer promises the intended victim, some form of assistance. In most instances, it is supposedly a package containing valuable gift items such as designer clothing, jewelry, televisions, cell phones, money and other electronic devices,” the release said in part.
Victims are usually contacted by a local associate of the scammer, confirming the arrival of the package and requesting their personal contact and other information. The intended victim is subsequently contacted again and requested to deposit money to a specified local Bank Account or send via a Money Transfer Agency or the Guyana Post Office Corporation. They inform the victim that the payment is required to cover brokerage fees, customs duties, penalties and/or shipping charges for the package(s), which was found on inspection to contain high valued items.
Once the payment is made, the scammers discontinue all contact with the victim.
In the light of this SOCU is advising the general public that in the event anyone is approached via Email, Facebook, WhatsApp, SMS, Dating Sites etc., and is promised gifts or Covid-19 related financial or other assistance, not to fall prey to such promises if they are not from a government agency or other legitimate sources.
SOCU is also advising that since it may be a scam, personal information should not be shared. Money should also not be transferred or deposited into a bank account of persons you meet online and do not know very well.
Persons who believe that they may be a victim of the ‘romance or package delivery scam’, are being asked to report it immediately to the nearest police station. (G4)