Published 16th Oct, 2022

A Nigerian and his Cambodian wife have been arrested in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for orchestrating a romance scam.

The Cambodian Anti-Technology Crime Department made this known on Saturday.

According to Khmer Times, the Anti-Technology Crime Department collaborated with both the Phnom Penh Municipal Police and the Phnom Penh Municipal Prosecutor’s Office to apprehend the couple on Tuesday.

The husband, a yet-to-be-named 48-year-old Nigerian, and his 37-year-old Cambodian wife carried out an organised romance fraud on the WhatsApp.

They pretended to be attractive females seeking potential partners on WhatsApp. After contacting a victim, they established a relationship online and then asked for money to pay for items they had ordered from abroad under the guise of a lover.

The Anti-Technology Crime Department said that it had built a case and sent the suspects to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for further proceedings after investigating.

KEL CHI, another Nigerian, was arrested for a $5,000 social media fraud on Tuesday.

The criminal police department of the Cambodian Ministry of Interior arrested 37-year-old Chi after he posed as ‘Don Richard’ and collected $5,000 from 24-year-old Un Srey Net.

Chi met Net on Facebook in August and promised to send her some goods from Korea in September.

Net received a phone call from a man claiming to be a customs officer at Phnom Penh Airport telling her to pay $10,000 tax on the imported items. Her family sent $5,000 through a remittance service but later contacted Cambodian authorities when they became suspicious.

The Cambodian interior ministry has sent Chi to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for legal action.

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