₦airaland Forum

Hedonisco:
Lol. This is just for 'academic' purposes. I sometimes wonder if most of you on this forum are geeks or couch potatoes who don't live and socialise widely in this same Nigeria.

There are thousands upon thousands multiplied by many more thousands upon further thousands of yahoo boys actively wreaking havoc and cashing out everyday across Nigeria. From Lagos to Ibadan, to Benin to Asaba, to Owerri, to Port Harcourt... All the way down to Abuja, Kaduna and even Jalingo
Majority of them don't even know let alone follow these safety protocols you mentioned. Yet they remain in business. Many have even advanced to become popular entrepreneurs and politicians... Anyone who knows what's up knows these guys.

The truth is that most of these guys would never and can never be caught. I repeat, MOST OF THESE NIGERIAN FRAUSTERS WOULD NEVER GET CAUGHT UNTIL THEY DIE. Only a minute fraction would ever get caught and scapegoated. It's the way it is.

The FBI would have to double their operational budget, and ignore ALL OTHER more pressing crimes/threats plaguing America to focus on Nigerian cyber criminals alone before they even neutralise not more than 5% of them. It's a meaningless, fruitless and useless undertaking for them, so no need.

All these anonymity protocols may only be useful for cyber criminals operating within the US and other Western countries. If we're talking about Nigeria, my brother forget it. The only way to minimise this thing is to optimise Web security systems to make it harder and harder for fraudsters. But even that wouldn't work, because the social engineering element will last forever and ever. A sucker is born every minute. Mugu no dey finish.

There will always be good and bad. Crime will remain as long as humanity remains.

Doing all that is unnecessary overkill for the average person. Only someone who is extremely cautious about privacy would go to those lengths.

From how I see it most of Nigerian scammers don't really conceal their activities. The reason why they aren't caught is that just like in other crimes, there needs to be a suspect.

In solving a crime, I'd say there are always two stages of Investigation. The first one is carried out to identify a suspect or person of interest.
Then a second, further investigation is carried out to uncover evidence linking that person to the crime.

Most cyber-criminals are cautious enough to not make any errors that can reveal their real identities. It's basic protocol really.

There are millions of scammers like this - from small-time criminals, to the ones in the big leagues. Figuring out the identities of these criminals requires a great deal of effort and resources that can't be dished out randomly. Only extremely significant cases will attract the due investigative operation.

But as long as they're able to determine suspicious individuals one way or the other, and decide to carry out a full investigation, they're easily exposed. This is what happened to Hushpuppi and his gang.

They were careful enough to protect their real identities in the scams, but Hushpuppi drew attention to himself through his social media activities and became a suspicious individual worth investigating to the Dubai police.

From that, they planned the arrest of he and his crew and were eventually able to uncover concrete evidence of their activities from their seized gadgets.

If hushpuppi and his crew had taken those lengthy steps to conceal their activities, even if he was foolish enough to make himself a suspect, the Dubai police and FBI would find it highly difficult to uncover any incriminating evidence and would ultimately have to release him.


Ross Ulbricht is another idiot like Hushpuppi who made a lot of slip-ups. What led to his downfall was that he had foolishly revealed his email and real name, on an online username he was using to promote Silk Road on different forums.

That made him a suspect and by investigating him, they were able to link all other numerous incriminating slip-ups to him.

1. Even if he did a sloppy job concealing his activities, as long as he was careful to conceal himself enough not to be on the feds' radar, it would have taken much longer for him to be caught.

2. Even if he was careless enough to reveal his identity to the agents as someone suspicious, they wouldn't have been able to uncover anything incriminating had he meticulously protected his criminal activities.


* It's an entirely different story in Nigeria tho

PrettyMuchNoOne:
In no particular order:
Layer one - VPN as you said (to encrypt your data).

Layer two - A sensible OS (preferably Linux-based e.g. Kali or even Ubuntu, macOS if you want to be like that) - anything is better than Windows, Android, and Chrome OS.

Layer three - Lots of disposable phone numbers, email addresses and the likes to conceal your identity.

Layer four - Your actual hardware - Computers with USBkill installed to wipe the drive when you’re eventually apprehended, iPhones with the ten-failed-passcode security thing.

Layer five - A specialised mining rig that can function as your Bitcoin wallet, with at least 10 different addresses supplemented by numerous unlinked bank accounts(preferably in multiple countries). Also and avenue for moving the money around those addresses using ACTUAL cash - not through the blockchain.

Layer six - A good browser and e-mail provider. Use only established privacy-focused browser, such as Firefox, if and only if you are sure that your network holes have been properly plugged in.

Layer seven - Remote backups. Only use backup sites that are created by yourself (not even your associates). Avoid iCloud Drive (because even though your iPhone is encrypted, your Drive data isn’t), Google Drive (we all know how Google is nah) and the likes.

Layer seven - Secured communication system - Don’t use mainstream email providers with little or no security, use bitches like ProtonMail (the morons encrypt their mail in servers below freaking solid rock - I think like a mile or so) or any other one that properly encrypts your data that not even them can read it.

Layer eight - Don’t trust America. The best place to get all these VPNs and email stuff is Switzerland. They have the strongest privacy laws in the world. But of course, use your Google Search for your normal dealings so as not to appear suspicious.

Layer eight - In fact, trust no one. After you’ve made your cash, don’t pull a Hushpuppi and start blowing on social media so that you won’t draw attention. And try to assume that everything is bugged. That your friend, he might be an EFCC agent or worse.

And remember, you’ll eventually get caught.
These aren’t fraudster-specific stuff, they’re just some measures that we should all take when handling sensitive info.

There’s a lot more than what I’ve outlined up there - Tor, privacy-centric computers, not clicking random links on websites, moving cash securely, deleting browser history etc. Go and do your own research before becoming a fraudster.

The thing is that if you take your time to secure yourself, they can’t catch you. It’s just like Aech in Ready Player One.

BTW, no I don’t support the practice of stealing people’s money, even because of a shitty government

Some good points. Also, want to note that wiping your drives are useless as they can be easily recovered by data recovery tools. Getting rid of the drive is the best solution in an emergency situation.

We should really just apply more care in anything that requires the transfer of data. Most of these data are always stored. Even deleting doesn't help.

Though for the large majority of the public, this data would likely never be seen by a third party. But if you ever find yourself in an unfortunate situation, you'd be shocked when you see tons of information you thought to be private being exposed before your very eye.

VPNs are only used to mask your location identity and shield your activities from your ISP. It is just one layer of private security but if you think that's enough to hide your identity when conducting illegal activities, you're a big fool.

A lot of things can give out your easily uncover your online ID such as browsing fingerprint, trackers, malware, and so on.

MrBrownJay1:
if your bitcoin wallet is confirmed as proceeds of crime, then the FBI can easily seize it via a court judgment... dont you remember that dude who created "silk road" (the very 1st illegal darkweb)... that dude had about $30M in bitcoin that were seized by the FBI.
Google the name Ross William Ulbricht for more infos.

even Craig Wright, the dude that "claims" to be the creator of Bitcoin confirmed that seizure of a wallet was possible... without the need of the owner's private key.

Eh no. The Ross guy willingly gave the FBI access to his wallets.

Laboni:
Not necessary dark web. OTC means, On The Counter trade. There are many crypto dealers who buys large quantity of crypto on a subsidized rate. You meet them, transfer the crypto to their wallet there/ handover the hardware wallet containing the crypto to them and get your money cash.

Bitcoin ATMs are one convenient way to anonymously exchange your bitcoins.

DelilahMakinde:
Apple doesn't subscribe to this policy. The FBI has asked them for keys more than once and they refused. Mr Facebook is just another Intel gathering officer working with them

I think Apple only refuses to help the FBI unlock a locked/encrypted iPhone, but as for any user information stored on their servers and backups, they will be handed over.

PrecisionFx:
''They can trace your address to the exchange site and request your information from them,"

Only a daft daft fraudster will use their real address, real email address or names to make such registrations.

Even a real fraudsters simcard na ghost sim

Lol, it's all about covering your tracks well. The email he used was a fake email but he foolishly linked it to an iCloud account that contained his phone no., address and several of his photos and documents which Apple gladly gave the FBI.

There doesn't even have to be any link between your fake mail and real accounts. Just using your fake mail regularly in a device that you've linked your personal details to JUST ONCE, is enough to nab you.

This is a dangerous game only the smart players can win...

Karex81:
But they say china spy on people, meanwhile usa is the biggest spy of all time. How did they get his details through his iPhone and whatsapp is encrypted, i taught iPhone is the most secured phone in the world. This should serve as a lesson to people, as far as you use the Internet, your being monitored and your data is collected.

Yeah, you can never trust these American companies. Google, Apple, Facebook and others No matter what they say, your information isn't secured. Phone records, text messages, internet records... everything can always end up in the hands of the government.

Any serious hacker/scammer would know best to use Chinese/Russian based software and cover their tracks properly.

PrecisionFx:
bitcoin cannot be hacked into normally, even if u are able to do it, u cant find the names n identity of its user

.

True, but there are always loose ends. As long as they know the wallet address, they can trace it to the company that registered it and ask for the company to provide your details. Another way to catch you is through the transactions made by the address.

For example, when you use those cryptocurrency exchange sites to convert your bitcoin to other currencies. They can trace your address to the exchange site and request your information from them, like the email you used to register for example. And from that email, they can nab you.

That is what happened here. The cryptocurrency exchange site gave the FBI Woodberry's email and they were able to trace that email to an iCloud account and apple then gave them details of the owner of that account.

Resembles Linda Ikeji.

The motive here isn't quite right. Normally, the man tries to kill his wife and then himself after discovering his wife's infidelity. But here, the man attempts to kill his wife and then himself because he was caught cheating? There's not much sense in this.

That woman should be investigated as she probably killed him. What needs to be established now is if it was murder or self-defense.

Nawa for this year o. First, Covid-19 pandemic. Now, there's a dangerous swine flu killing pigs in parts of Africa and Asia. There's also a mysterious disease killing hundreds of elephants in Africa. Lassa fever, Ebola and others, locust swarms, wildfires, Earthquakes, critical war tensions... Please, who did we offend?

Africa’s first participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial started Wednesday as nervous volunteers received injections, while officials said the continent of 1.3 billion people cannot be left behind.

The large-scale trial of the vaccine developed at the University of Oxford in Britain is being conducted in South Africa, Britain and Brazil.

South Africa has nearly one-third of Africa’s confirmed cases with more than 106,000, including more than 2,100 deaths. The country late Tuesday reported its biggest one-day death toll of 111.

“I feel a little bit scared but I want to know what is going on with this vaccine so that I can tell my friends and others what is going on with the study,” one of the vaccine trial volunteers, Junior Mhlongo, said in Johannesburg.

The African continent now has nearly 325,000 cases as countries loosen restrictions under economic pressure from citizens who say they have to feed their families.

Shortages of testing materials and medical supplies remain a problem as Africa could become the world’s next hot spot.

The pandemic was delayed in Africa “but is picking up speed very quickly,” the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief John Nkengasong said Wednesday, with a steep increase in the number of cases and deaths.

“Unless we act now, Africa is at risk of being left behind on the global vaccine,” he warned a continental discussion and urged that local manufacturing and scientific expertise play a key role.

Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa all have highly developed clinical trial capabilities, said Salim Abdool Karim, chair of South Africa’s ministerial advisory committee for COVID-19.

Many other sub-Saharan African countries also have clinical trial capacity, said Daniel Bausch, director of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team.

“We’re not only needing but capable of participating” as the world races for a vaccine, South Africa’s Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

African leaders have been outspoken about the continent being elbowed out in the intense global competition for medical supplies in this pandemic, as well as what the World Health Organization’s Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, called the “distortion of the global market for key items.”

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged that the initial supply of any COVID-19 vaccine be deployed where it’s most needed, rather than based on the “ability to pay.”

Tedros also announced that as of this week, all 54 of Africa’s countries now have the lab capacity to test for the coronavirus.

In February, just two African nations could test for the virus. The continent’s first virus case was reported on Feb. 14.

https://i.imgur.com/mQUyIIS.jpg?1

[Source] : https://africa.cgtn.com/2020/06/24/first-vaccinations-begin-in-africa-for-covid-19-trial/

Got 200k at 16, merrybet . Funny thing is I used almost everything to place more bets(none of which I won) and since then, I haven't gotten such money...lol

nameo:
Yes, we have a Revenue Vs Expenditure(nasic obligations sef) issue, but when you are in the dire financial cum economic situation as described above (debt-to-revenue ratio tending to 100%), one of the things you must do is to reduce COST. Once you reduce cost(esp unnecessary ones), your expenditure will reduce thereby reducing pressure on your revenue and ensuring that your deficient spending(borrowing) reduces. That is massive and evn painful reduction of cost and blocking leakages on the revenue side.


Yet Buhari has not only reduced cost. Cost has arguably increased.

A President that therefore takes the lazy path of just borrowing more while using almost all its actual revenue to pay interests on previous loans is not only serious but sick.

It should frighten you.

Imagine. So, all this borrowing and rising debt have just been used to barely sustain the economy? I was even thinking all the borrowing done has been to grow the economy and revenue, not knowing it's just been used to support the current deficit. For how long has this been going on and when will our revenue generation grow enough to offset our debt to revenue ratio.

OP, be thanking your god for your life. That is a fat-tailed scorpion, the most dangerous scorpion species in the world with potent venom that can easily kill humans. One way to know if a scorpion is dangerous is by looking at its pincers and tail. Scorpions with large claws and small tails rely more on their claws for catching prey and thereby have weaker venoms and smaller tails. Scorpions with large tails and small pincers are very dangerous as they have a strong venom which they primarily use to kill their prey than their claws.

Imagine... So Kylie Jenner can earn 1.2 million GBP from a single advertisement post on her page just for having lots of followers (despite not being known for anything worthy and haven't worked hard for anything, and only because she's born into fame and fortune), while probably 90% of Nigerians will never have up to that for the duration of their entire lifetimes. Life is truly a bitch!

This guy is a bloody rapist. It is just highly unfortunate that this guy is not being investigated and arrested by the authorities. He claims to have been foolish 8 years ago but truly, how was old was he by then? I'm certain he wasn't a 15 or 16-year-old hormonal teenager but a full-grown adult knowing fully well the implications of his actions and eventual consequences. So how can he come now and be saying it was the foolish mindset of his younger adult self, for something as serious as rape? If he's truly remorseful of his past self and actions, then he should do the right thing and set the right example by turning himself in.

You can be forgiven but you must always bear the consequences of the actions.

It looks like razor bumps. It's not all about sharing clippers though. Some people skins are really sensitive and will get them more easily than others with the application of a razor. They always appear when I shape my beards and the back of my head, even if I use a personal clipper. Though, it can be prevented by thoroughly applying aftershave or isopropyl alcohol after barbing.

If some still appear after that, I resolve it by applying Skineal to the area and it usually disappears after a week or two. If you don't use any aftershave to prevent it and also leave it untreated for a long time when it appears, it may become somewhat permanent. I've had a little one on the back of my head for like four years now. All efforts to remove it have been in vain. The only solution I heard of is to scrape it off (very painfully) with a blade and apply lime (even more painful) to the area. Someone I know got rid of his that way...

ahhh! Bet9ja don spoil ooo!

Hi! Does any one have any information on this place? I haven't been able to find any recent info about this place and how they can be contacted. Is the place still operating?
If it is, how is the condition of the place recently? What activities take place there and when is it open? How do you get there? Do you need to bring anything along? How much will you need roughly for everything including transportation?

Omashola ooo!!! Ogblablabla Fool!

Trash! Yemi Alade is a trashy artist even for 'Nigerian Standards.' 98% of her Music is incoherent gibberish. Apart from her early singles 'Ghen Ghen Love' and 'Johnny' her songs come across as boring garbage that I wouldn't listen to twice, unless I was paid to do so.

What a big dissapointment Mercy is. I can understand if before, she turned to prostitution because she and her family had no one to depend on, and it was the most viable option for her survival. But with all the fame, exposure and oppurtunities, the big brother platform has provided her, to believe that she can't capatilize on that to make a brand and fortune for herself, by herself, and still think that she to depend on her body and men to survive, is something to be ashmed of. Like, what's your excuse? Don't you realize that you are now a role-model to some young females. Sigh, turned out to be just another Kim Kardashian...

ayenika1:
Social Work in Nigeria is now up too the task and Lagos social welfare is still the best in Nigeria. Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental disorder and for proper diagnosis and treatment, a proper background check would be done. I'd advise you get an experience social worker who would be of great assistance..

Thanks for the reply. Can you tell me more about Social Work and where I can find an experienced social worker?

I'm afflicted from BDD (Body dysmorphic disorder). It has negatively impacted my life in nearly all aspects and I can't continue to live like this anymore so I'm desperately seeking a psychologist.

From what I've seen, psychologists aren't that common in Nigeria and I'm afraid I won't be able to find a qualified one who can properly identify and redress my condition. I've tried counselling before and it wasn't an encouraging experience; It didn't help me in any way whatsoever.

I'd much appreciate it if anyone can recommend a professional who deals with BDD or mental disorders in general.

I stay in Lagos by the way.

BluntBoy:
Stop being pessimistic.

The worst is over. Next Level would be way better.

That's what they say every 4 years. You people will never learn. Maybe when all these incumbent political parties are gone for good, can we start talking about progress.