INDIAN police have arrested a Nigerian man, Stephane, also known as K Cee Dominic, in Tilak Nagar, West Delhi, for allegedly scamming more than 100 women across the country.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Shahdara, Prashant Gautam, revealed on Monday, September 29, that Dominic posed as a United Kingdom-based Korean businessman on a language exchange app, designed to help users practice languages with native speakers worldwide to target single women and win their trust through conversations before claiming to be stranded at Immigration with large-value cheques or documents pending clearance.
Meanwhile, his accomplices would pose as officials during phone calls and pressure victims into transferring money digitally.
“Dominic would introduce himself as Duck Young, a Korean jewelry-based businessman who settled in the UK. He would then lure the victims with false promises of personal relationships and business partnerships,” Gautam said.
He added that they picked the 29-year-old into custody from his rented apartment in West Delhi.
Gautam explained that the case surfaced after a woman named Anjali filed a complaint on September 24, claiming she was defrauded of ₹48,500.
“Anjali met Dominic, introduced as ‘Duck Young’ through the app, who later claimed he was detained at the Mumbai airport for travelling without a medical facility card. Anjali also received calls from Indian numbers by people impersonating as Immigration officials and demanding money for Dominic’s clearance. After she transferred the money via UPI, Anjali was asked to pay an additional ₹2 lakh, which she refused. Following this, the accused cut off all communication with her,” he added.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police said the case was filed at Shahdara’s Cyber Police Station, where a team was set up to track the suspect. The police first examined call records, bank details, and social media accounts, which eventually led them to Dominic in West Delhi.
Police also seized a mobile phone from him, which contained the fake profile along with chat records involving over 100 women.
He said that during questioning, Dominic disclosed that he entered India in 2019 on a six-month tourist visa using a passport from the Ivory Coast, since Nigerian citizens were facing difficulties obtaining Indian visas.
After his visa lapsed, he remained in India illegally and, upon running out of savings, resorted to cyber fraud.
Dominic’s case adds to the list of Nigerians that have been arrested in diaspora this year.
The ICIR reported in April that the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested 22 Nigerians allegedly involved in a financially driven sextortion scheme linked to over 20 teen suicides in the country since 2021.
The FBI said it launched Operation Artemis nearly two years ago after receiving thousands of reports of teen boys being coerced into sharing sexually explicit photos online and then extorted with threats of exposure unless they paid.
In May, a 28-year-old Nigerian residing in Toronto, Canada, Chimezie Nwabueze, was arrested by police and is facing multiple charges for allegedly defrauding two victims of over $600,000 through an online romance scam.
The Peel Regional Police said the victims were led to believe they were in a legitimate romantic relationship with the suspect between June 2021 and July 2023 after connecting with him on an online dating platform.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.