Like any criminal organization, it focuses on profit, police say. Most often, the group is likened to the Mob or to biker gangs, especially as it spreads outside Nigeria.ДЄn investigation by The Globe and Mail that included interviews with about 20 people found that 'Axemen,' as they call themselves, are setting up chapters around the world, including in Canada. Once an idealistic university fraternity, the group has been linked to decades of murders and rapes, and its members are said to swear a blood oath. The Black Axe is feared in Nigeria, where it originated. So when two Toronto police officers and an RCMP analyst in British Columbia started documenting the existence of something called the 'Black Axe, Canada Zone,' they could not have predicted it would take them to funerals, suburban barbecue joints and deep into African history before they understood what they were seeing. Mapping a secret criminal hierarchy for the first time is a rare kind of detective work. Then there were stories, even old police files, attached to the people in the photos: a kidnapping, a man run over by a car, brutal beatings over what seemed to be a small slight. The signs began to appear two years ago: photos on Facebook of men wearing odd, matching outfits. Women should be very careful and not part with any money, especially not to someone they have not met in person.Canadian police say they are fighting a new kind of criminal organization. My advice for women would be to do their due diligence, the syndicate would usually declare their love for you within days, claiming to be prominent figures or employed in the engineering industry, within weeks after grooming their prey they would start their exploitations, better known as ''phase 2''.

People should steer away from posting their whole life on social media. вЂњI must admit there are people finding true love on dating sites, however, they are few and far between. вЂњElderly women, especially widowed or divorced are the prime suspects on dating sites, they are the vulnerable targets, there are victimology assessments done on their targets, intel-gathering and usually very complex screening to identify the perfect victim,вЂќ said Alexander. South Africa is their favourite playground where they marry locals to obtain citizenship so they can travel to European countries easily. The group is also found in Italy and works with Italian mafia groups. They are said to have been operating from the Table View area along the west coast, posing as wealthy pensioners looking for love. Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the FBI estimates that more than 100 people lost more than R100 million in romance scams from 2011 to date. This was how their story evolved and how they managed to adapt to the pandemic,вЂќ he said.Д®ight Nigerian nationals which include six leaders of the group aged between 33 to 52 were arrested for Internet scams, money laundering and international-wide scale financial fraud in Cape Town in a joint operation by the FBI, United States Secret Service(USSS), Interpol and with assistance from the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit, Crime Intelligence(CI), K9, National Intervention Unit, Special Task Force (STF), Tactical Operations Management Section (Toms), Criminal Record Centre and Cape Town Metro police.

However, we heard bizarre stories such as one who was claiming to be trapped on an oil rig and unable to set foot on land, claiming that their food supply had diminished and they are now paying as much as $300 for a loaf of bread. вЂњWe noticed during the pandemic the romance scammers had to deviate from their usual вЂ™scriptвЂ™ or storyline, they could no longer make victims believe that they are travelling for business, due to lockdown.

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