Etinosa Yvonne, a Nigerian visual artist, has detailed how a fraudster, whose name is believed to be EDMOND CHRISTIAN UDEH, has been using her WhatsApp profile to solicit “monetary help” from her contacts.

While speaking with FIJ, Etinosa said the fraudster’s activities were first brought to her attention by her contacts on Saturday.

Apart from her WhatsApp profile, the artist said the same fraudster had also attempted using the name and image of Professor Uche Okeke, a renowned Nigerian illustrator, painter, sculptor and teacher who died in 2016, to defraud people as well.

Screenshot Showing How the Fraudster Used Etinosa’s Profile to Solicit Funds From Her Contacts

The Numbers 0802052628 and 07056559249 the Fraudster Uses to Defraud People Using Etinosa’s Name

The Message Etinosa Sent to Her Contacts When She Found Out Her Profile Was Being Used to Solicit Funds

READ ALSO: Tony Ifeanyi Nwose Of NiteOn Store Displays Artworks for Sale Without Owners’ Approval

“On Saturday, I woke up around 3 am to see that my sister and a few other phone contacts sent me screenshots of how the fraudster who had impersonated me had used my WhatsApp profile to solicit funds from them,” said Etinosa.

“It was around the same time that I noticed that an unknown account had sent a request to me on Instagram. Since the person was unknown to me, I declined his request.

“In the message he sent to my contacts, the fraudster used my profile to ask for money. In one of the screenshots that was sent to me, he asked a contact to send him N22,000 and that he would refund him later on that day.

“After the screenshots were sent to me, I immediately sent out a message to all my contacts, informing them that the message was not from me and telling them not to respond to him.

READ ALSO: IBILE: A Solo Exhibition by Segun Fagorusi, the Artist They Said Would ‘Never Make it’

“So far, he had reached out to five of my contacts using my profile but thankfully, they had not sent any cash to him before reaching out to me.”

Unknown to Etinosa, the fraudster was already following her fellow artist friends on Instagram.

“I later discovered that he was already following some of my artist friends on Instagram,” said Etinosa.

“Through that, we were able to establish a pattern that he was indeed targeting artists and had only chosen to start with me.

“He has actually contacted the artist friends he is following on Instagram to solicit funds in my name. He has since been blocked on our Instagram profiles. So far, he has not been able to defraud anyone.

“Now, this is how he operates: anytime he reaches out to my friends using my profile, he only sends messages. When they call him, he would not pick up their calls. He operates using messages.”

READ ALSO: A Nigerian Initiative Is Using Arts to Spread Health Information

The Alvono BuchananJr. Instagram Profile the Fraudster Used in Sending Requests to the Artists

FIJ found that the profile that had sent requests to Etinosa and her artist friends on Instagram belonged to one Alvono Buchanan Jr. The fraudster might have also hijacked Buchanan’s profile to perpetrate the fraud.

The fraudster, while using Etinosa’s name to solicit funds on WhatsApp, had used the numbers 08020522628 and 07056559249. A check for the numbers on Truecaller brought up the names SCAMMER USING PEOPLE’S DP and THIEFWHATSAPP BEWARE respectively.

This fraudster had also been using a Palmpay account number 8955964067 belonging to an EDMOND CHRISTIAN UDEH to perpetrate the fraud.

SAME FRAUDSTER ATTEMPTED USING LATE PROFESSOR UCHE OKEKE’S PROFILE TO PERPETRATE FRAUD

The Fraudster Used Late Professor Uche Okeke’s Profile to Defraud Victims

By Sunday evening, the fraudster had removed Etinosa’s picture from his WhatsApp profile and replaced it with Professor Okeke’s.

“After the fraudster removed my picture from the WhatsApp profile, he replaced it with that of Professor Uche Okeke,” said Etinosa.

“The picture also has the image of the late professor’s daughter, Salma, in it.

READ ALSO: After Receiving $5,000 From Nigerian Baker, Indonesian Agent Herry Harjono Vanishes Into Thin Air

“He also included an article link done by The Guardian in 2016 to honour the late professor’s works on the profile to make it look convincing to people.

“Unfortunately, he was not wise enough to remove my name from the profile.

“By this time he had succeeded in following several Nigerian artists on their social media platforms. He is basically targeting Nigerian artists.”

FRAUDSTER STEALS N144,000 FROM UNSUSPECTING VICTIM

Receipts Reflecting the N144,000 Payment the Victim Made to the Fraudster

Unknown to Etinosa, the fraudster had already defrauded a victim, who asked not to be named, of N144,000. This happened on Saturday.

“When I eventually wrote to Uche Okeke’s legacy team, I was told he had already scammed someone successfully on Saturday,” said Etinosa.

“What he did was to put up the picture of another artist in Nigeria and started reaching out to her contacts to solicit for funds.

READ ALSO: Fraudster Posing as UBA Agent Steals Lagos Teacher’s N353,500

The Artist Profile the Fraudster Used to Defraud the Victim of N144,000

“Unfortunately, one of the artist’s contacts sent him N144,000. What he did was to give the contact a false story that someone was in the hospital and was in urgent need of money.

“After he had received the N144,000, however, the fraudster continued to demand for more money. This was when the victim started asking questions and later discovered that she had been scammed.

The Fraudster’s Profile Names Brought Up by True Caller

“The fraudster even had to be telling her that if she was not ready to send him more money, she should stop asking him questions.

“Alarmingly, after he had scammed the victim, he started using her profile to ask for money from her cousins.”

READ ALSO: Lagos House Seeker Pays N490,000 to Fake Landlord

DJ Oreo’s Profile the Fraudster Has Presently Taken Up

It was also later discovered that apart from the Airtel and Glo numbers 08020522628 and 07056559249, the fraudster also used the international phone line +17192869322 to defraud his victims.

FIJ checked the international phone number on Truecaller and it brought up the name ABRAHAM ERUNKE PETER.

At press time, the fraudster had taken up another profile with the name DJ OREO.
The post Fraudster on the Prowl. His Targets? Nigerian Artists appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.