A Nigerian that cheated a woman of $3,500 in an Internet love scam has been charged in court on Friday, according to a Straits Times report.
Akibon Michael Mayokun, 32, allegedly cheated Ms Hatijah Latif of the money on Nov 17, 2011. The accused got the woman to transfer the money to a designated POSB account.
Akibon allegedly committed the offence with three others: Adesuyi Oluwole, Siti Nordiah Ahmad and Siti Iyani Mohd Hadini. He was extradited here from Malaysia on Wednesday, two days after he was arrested in Kuala Lumpur.
If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
The police said that a spate of Internet love scams was reported last year.
In the cases, the male culprits - believed to be foreigners - befriended female victims through online dating and social-networking sites.
As part of their modus operandi, the culprits developed a "romantic" relationship with their victims and promised to visit Singapore.
On the supposed date of their arrival here, they would contact their victims, saying they had been detained at one of the immigration checkpoints.
They would then ask the victims to remit money to specified bank accounts to secure their release.
Police statistics released in February showed that the number of Internet love-scam cases - which surfaced in 2008 - almost tripled to 62 last year, from 21 in 2010.
The amount of money scammed increased from $824,000 in 2010 to $2.3 million last year.
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