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Director of Operation, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Moammed Umar Abba, has said that the Commission’s joint operations, codenamed  ‘Operation Rewired,’ with the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), against cyber crime since August 12, 2019, has so far led to the arrest of 167 Nigerians, with $169, 885, N92m recovered from them. 
Addressing journalists at EFCC-FBI joint press conference in Lagos yesterday, Abba, who represented the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, said the collaborative operation spanning three weeks was designed to intercept and interrupt the global network of internet fraudsters.
He said: “Before now, we had relentlessly launched intensive investigative actions against the infamous Yahoo Yahoo Boys culminating to various strategic raids, onslaught on criminals’ hide-outs, prosecutions and convictions.
“I am happy to inform you that our efforts have recorded tremendous successes leading to a number of arrests, seizures and recoveries. The suspected fraudsters arrested in the course of these operations will be prosecuted accordingly.
“It is instructive to note that from August 12, 2019, to date, the collaborative Operation Rewired coordinated by the EFCC Nigeria as an impetus to our sustained operations on perpetrators of various computer related frauds have resulted in the arrests of 167 Nigerians for computer related frauds. We have also recovered from the arrested fraudsters the sum of $169,850 as well as the sum of N92 million. Also four exotic cars, plots of lands in choice areas, a property in Lagos and a property in Abuja were also recovered during the EFCC-FBI collaborative operations.”
He stated that the essence of regularly addressing the press was to bridge any information gap about the progress of the anti-graft war and to enhance the capacity of journalists to report the Commission from the position of facts and figures, and urged the media to continue to help the Commission to mobilise and educate all critical stakeholders to continue to support the fight against economic and financial crimes.
He said: “We must collectively strive to achieve the Nigeria of our dream. It is very critical for you to understand that you owe the youths of this country that social responsibility of awakening their consciousness to the importance of a noble life devoid of crimes.”
Stressing that there is no short cut to success other than hard work, he advised Nigerians to shun crime and its alluring temptation because it would always end in sorrow and regrets.
He reiterated the Commission’s preparedness to partner FBI and other agencies to reduce computer related crime in Nigeria, saying, “Now that the infamous Internet crime has received global attention and concern, there will be no hiding place for fraudsters. The EFCC will continue to partner the FBI and other international law enforcement agencies, especially in the area of exchanging information and actionable intelligence towards bringing to the barest minimum the menace of cyber crime and computer based frauds in the country.”
Also speaking, the FBI legal attaché, Ahamdi Uche, promised that the symbiotic partnership that has existed between the FBI and the EFCC would continue, even as he said that looking at the global perspective to cyber crime, the US global reporting internet fraud body, IC3, in 2018, received 20,373 Business Email Compromise (BEC) complaints with losses of over $1.2 billion.
He said it was in an effort to dismantle the international fraudulent transactions and pursue bad actors and organised criminal enterprises, including money, mails which engage in BEC and fraud schemes targeting hard American businesses, that the FBI and law enforcement partners in the US and abroad implemented a strategy to target and disrupt the scammers and other illicit actors.
On the joint operation, tagged Operation Rewired, he said: “In summary, the surge of resources for this operation will serve as a centerpiece for future cyber criminal strategy moving forward. We have a symbiotic partnership with the EFCC and we will like to continue extending our relationship and continue collaborating with the EFCC and other security services here in Nigeria.”