The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has pledged to launch a full-scale investigation into an Abuja-based cybercrime ring accused of impersonating prominent international YouTubers to scam victims seeking to recover stolen funds.
​The development follows an online investigative report released on Friday, October 16, 2026, by popular YouTube scam-baiter NanoBaiter. The exposé detailed how an organized syndicate impersonated content creators, including MrBeast, Airrack, and NanoBaiter himself, to target vulnerable social media users.
​According to digital evidence made public by the investigative team, the suspects monitored comment sections across major YouTube channels to identify individuals who had previously fallen victim to financial scams.
​Operatives then contacted these users, directing them to encrypted Telegram channels, including handles such as @nanobaiter_team, where they posed as recovery specialists. The syndicate charged upfront fees for fake fund-recovery software before absconding with the money.
​Using advanced digital forensics, NanoBaiter’s team traced the operation to Nigeria, By analysing Basic Service Set Identifiers (BSSIDs) from the attackers’ Wi-Fi hardware, researchers pinned the operation to a residential sector in Abuja.
Investigators enticed the suspects onto a fake Bitcoin distribution website. To complete fictitious cash-outs, the fraudsters submitted live webcam verification feeds, effectively capturing their own faces on video.
Internal records revealed the group routinely converted stolen gift cards into cryptocurrency via over-the-counter (OTC) trading networks to obscure financial trails.
​Responding to the findings on Saturday, October 17, 2026, EFCC Spokesperson Dele Oyewale confirmed that the commission had received the evidence dossier and commenced a formal review.
​”We are not relenting on tackling online scammers,” Oyewale stated. “These individuals are not merely ‘Yahoo boys’; they are mega-criminals ruining lives and businesses while inflicting severe reputational damage on Nigeria. Cybercrime goes far beyond minor digital infractions, and we will hunt them down.”
​The probe comes amid an intensified crackdown by the commission’s Abuja Zonal Directorate on digital impersonation schemes:
On Thursday, October 15, 2026, the EFCC arraigned Raymond Charles Yafetus, Auwal Ibrahim, and Babangida Yahaya Ibrahim before Justice S. O. Ibrahim at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The trio faces charges over an alleged ₦18.26 million scheme involving the online impersonation of popular Nigerian media personality Tunde Ednut (Adekunle Tunde Olaoluwa).
Following “not guilty” pleas, the court ordered all three defendants remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending trial, scheduled to begin on November 17, 2026.
​The EFCC has called on both local and international online communities to report cybercrime leads directly through its official channels as investigators work to dismantle the Abuja network.
