Gurgaon: Three Nigerian nationals were arrested in Noida on Thursday for allegedly posing as women on social media, befriending people across India and cheating them on the pretext of foreign currency conversion charges and anti-money laundering clearances.Police said 19 mobile phones, one laptop and 18 Indian and international SIM cards were recovered from their possession during the operation.The accused—Chinedu, James Sunday, and Jules Kakao—were wanted in connection with a cyber fraud case registered last year. The case began with a complaint on April 25, 2025, from a man who said he connected with a woman on Instagram and started communicating with her regularly.During the interaction, the woman told the man that she had arrived in India and needed Rs 69,900 as registration charges at Mumbai Airport to convert her cheque into Indian currency. Trusting her, the complainant transferred the amount into the bank account shared with him.Police said that when the woman later demanded more money, the complainant realised that he had been cheated and approached the cops.During the investigation, cops traced the suspects to Noida in Uttar Pradesh on May 14 and arrested the trio. They were later produced before a court and taken on a one-day police remand for questioning.During preliminary interrogation, police found that James allegedly entered India illegally through Bangladesh in 2022, Chinedu came to India on a study visa in 2018, and Kakao entered India on a study visa in 2017.Police said none of the accused was found carrying a valid visa or passport at the time of arrest. Following this, relevant sections of the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act were also added to the case.Cops said they created fake female profiles on social media to target people in India. After gaining victims’ trust, they extorted money for registration fees, anti-money laundering charges, and travel expenses to meet them.Sandeep Turan, police spokesperson, said that the mobile phones, SIM cards and laptop recovered from the accused are being examined to identify other victims, financial transactions and possible links to additional cyber fraud cases across the country.
