Nigerian man arrested for scamming Indian pastor after promising donations for poor

A Nigerian man has been arrested after allegedly duping a pastor in India by posing as a Canadian philanthropist wishing to donate money and masks for poor people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, the incident occurred in Hyderabad, India.

Equally important, reports monitored by 1st News in the Indian media say the Nigerian man was identified as Morgan.

The 32-year-old Morgan was said to be based in Bangalore, according to the Police. He had made the acquaintance of Pastor Moses, who resides in Banjara Hills after the COVID-19 lockdown in that city. The contact with the pastor was made through a social networking platform where Morgan posed as a Canadian philanthropist, the Times of India reports.

Meanwhile, Cyber-crime detective ACP KVM Prasad accused the Nigerian man of faking as a philanthropist to dupe the pastor.

“Morgan told pastor Moses that he was upset about the poor, who were worst affected by the pandemic. Morgan told Moses that he donates money for charity and expressed his willingness to send some money to Moses; along with other items like sanitisers, masks and laptops to distribute among the poor,” Prasad told newsmen.

After Moses agreed to distribute the items, he received a phone call from a woman; who posed as a customs official at the Delhi airport. The woman alerted him about an international parcel that they seized.

“The fraudster posing as a customs official asked the pastor to pay the processing fee and customs duty to clear it for dispatch. After Moses deposited a few lakhs of rupees in the bank accounts mentioned; she kept asking him to deposit more in the name of income tax and money laundering fine. In one month, Moses had sent Rs 24.39 lakh before realising that he was duped,” the ACP said.

Thereafter, he had lodged a complaint on August 19 with the Police. Meanwhile, the Bangalore police arrested the Nigerian man in a similar fraud.

The Hyderabad police had swung into action and brought Morgan to the city on prisoner transit warrant.