792 Suspected in Pig-Butchering Scam Arrested in a Luxury Building in Nigeria

On December 10, Nigerian authorities arrested 792 pig-butchering scam suspects, including 148 Chinese and 40 Filipinos, at the Big Leaf Building in Lagos.

Police also seized several computers, phones and vehicles during the raid.

Wilson Uwujaren, a spokesman for the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said the building housed a call center for fraudulent activities that targeted victims from Europe and the Americas in a pig-butchering scam, forcing or enticing them to participate in fake cryptocurrency investments.

The fraudsters sought potential victims through social media such as WhatsApp and Instagram. Once the victims took the bait, they would finally fall for fake crypto investment schemes or other bogus investment scams.

The gang recruited accomplices in Nigeria. The victims of the scam were mainly from the United States, Canada, Mexico and some European countries.

Uwujaren also said that the commission is working with other international organizations on collaborative investigations.