The alleged scammers operated in Poland and other countries. According to the inquiry, they utilized two methods of online fraud. In the “American soldier” scheme, the suspects contacted women via instant messaging apps, claiming they were soldiers on a peacekeeping mission.

“Then, using various social engineering techniques, they gained the victims’ trust and, taking advantage of this, defrauded them of large sums of money,” Wrześniowski explained.

The second method was the Business Email Compromise (BEC), in which an attacker targets a business to defraud the company. The Nigerians emailed finance departments in companies, impersonating real entities, and notified the firms that a change had been made to an account number for upcoming payments.

In the flats of the arrested Nigerians, officers found multiple mobile phones, SIM cards, laptops, IDs reported missing in the EU, and bank cards bearing other people’s details.

The police secured around PLN 68,000 (EUR 15,855) in cash and PLN 70,000 (EUR 16,321) in their bank accounts.

The men heard charges of fraud, taking part in organized crime activities and money laundering. They are awaiting trial in custody.