Di fake sex chats wey pipo no sabi say na scam

By Nduka Orjinmo BBC News, Abuja

Di client na 50-year-old man for US, di attractive young white woman wey im dey chat wit online na Gingerhoney, one model wey im profile show her dey lie down for bed like say.

Di client tink say Gingerhoney dey live near am but im no get idea say she actually be man wey dey far away, for Nigeria.

Men across di world, like dis one, dey pay hundreds of dollars on adult websites to chat wit wetin dem tink say na attractive young women, but in fact dem fit be anyone, BBC find out.

Months of gathering evidence reveal global operation wey dey behind dis fake profiles, wey reach from Di Netherlands to US, through Suriname to Nigeria, wia dem break strict laws on adult digital conduct.

Nigerian university student Abiodun (no be im real name) na one of di many moderators wey dey operate fake profiles on dating websites wey one Dutch firm Meteor Interactive BV be di owner.

Abiodun dey switch profiles between di dozens of fake accounts wey im dey manage on dis websites, but each time, im dey claim to be attractive young white woman.

For one site im be Gingerhoney, one 21-year-old model wit pink-colour duvet wey she use cover her waist in manner wey dey inviting.

She describe herself as di best thing since honey and encourage men to call her Ginger - "the same colour as my hair".

Somewhere for Abiodun computer na folder wey contain various randy foto dem of Gingerhoney, just in case e get client wey request for more erotic pictures.

Di foto dem, including di profile picture, na ordinary foto dem wey dem get from different places.

Abiodun no be di only pesin wit access to Gingerhoney profile - dozens of oda chat moderators dey manage her round di clock on shift basis.

Chat moderators like Abiodun dey use one advanced map tool to fake Gingerhoney location to within 50km of di client, dis na why dem match dem up.

Di client don pay for dis chat and though im neva tok am yet, im dey hope to meet her.

While di websites dey free to join, clients have to subscribe to packages, wey dey cost from $6 (£5) to $300 (£255), to receive or send messages to di "women".

While younger clients want to physically meet di women wey dem think say dey dia area, older clients dey mostly dey satisfied wit sex chats and sexy foto and videos dem, Abiodun tok.

Di aim of Abiodun and oda chat moderators na to keep dis subscribers on di websites as long as possible, di plan na to make sure say dem use up dia credits.

Di instructions to moderators be say each message must be at least 150 characters and e must be "open-ended", to make sure di conversation continue.

"E be like customer-service job, only say di client dey tink say dem dey chat wit di CEO," Abiodun tell BBC.

Meteor Interactive BV dey dey give one company wey dey Suriname - Logical Moderation Solutions (LMS), na one Suriname man wey dem dey call Orano Rose, di contract to recruit, train and staff im Nigeria chat moderators.

BBC see evidence on WhatsApp, Telegram and Skype accounts of LMS wey show say di company don recruit and train hundreds of chat moderators, mostly for Nigeria states of Lagos and Abuja.

Di work of di chat moderator jobs na for Instagram, Twitter and Telegram dem dey advertise am.

Dia target na Nigeria army of unemployed, educated young pipo, dem dey advertise di positions as "online roles", "digital marketing jobs", "chat moderator roles", witout any mention of di adult content employees gatz deal wit.

One of LMS top recruiters, Adedamola Yusuf, wey base for Germany.

Yusuf dey handle di job adverts on her social media accounts, wia she dey show off lifestyle of pesin wey don blow wit holidays for exotic locations.

"You dey chat wit boring white pipo. And di job dey perfectly legal and licensed both for Germany and Nigeria," she tok on one WhatsApp chat wit pipo wey she wan hire on dia first day.

Madam Yusuf don dey recruite chat moderators for more dan two years and for one recruitment wey she do last November, hundreds of pipo sign up.

She no respond to BBC requests for comment.

"Dis guys from di West majorly want to chat," one trainer tell new recruits, wey gatz to pass strenuous English language tests to make dia cover as fool-proof as possible.

"It is: 'I am', not 'am'," dem correct one recruit during one training session for di company WhatsApp group wey I attend.

Nicholas Akande, one director wit LMS for Nigeria, register more dan 100 pipo for di first week of July to work as chat moderators and tell dem di job dey legal.

Im no respond to BBC requests for comment.

Chat moderators dey also do lessons about di culture, writing style and trending conversations for di locations of dia clients to make dem sound authentic.

At di end of training wey fit to last from a few days to a week, dem go give dem log-in details on di websites, wia dem fit see personal information like home address, phone number and age of subscribers.

BBC don see comments from men online, wey say dem spend from $300 to $700 on dis websites hoping to meet di "women" wey dem bin dey chat wit.

"I fit don text 20 women and dem dey usually put me off wen I suggest to meet personally," one man tok, wey claim say im don spend $64.99 on one site wey Meteor Interactive own.

Anoda man say im bin "buy over $400 of credits wit di understanding say di women dey real… my badsay I no read di the fine print", im say.

One man say im spend more dan $300 on credits on false hope of meeting di women live:

"Dem go hook you saying dem dey live for your town or close by and wan meet you "TONIGHT" you spend credits dey send dey text and wen you want to set place and time to meet den excuse go start," im tok.

Meteor Interactive say im Terms & Conditions make am clear say some of im profiles no dey real and say "di possibility of meet-up no dey possible".

However, e no explain why im Nigeria chat moderators dey use map tool to fake dia location.

Dis tool dey give di trick more credibility and raises false hopes of meeting wey no go ever happen.

Di activities of dis chat moderators resemble on internet fraud for Nigeria under one law wey prohibit posting indecent or adult content online, experts tell BBC.

One 2015 cybercrimes law forbid:

One government official say LMS dey risk deregistration for Nigeria if e dey involved in deception and adult content.

Oga Rose tell BBC say im no dey do anytin illegal, and no dey aware of di cybercrimes law for Nigeria. As im base for Suriname, e go hard to prosecute am.

Millions of Nigerians dey unemployed and months of strike by university lecturers mean say many young pipo dey desperately look for jobs.

LMS dey woos recruits with monthly salaries of up to 150,000 naira ($355) - twice as much as new teachers – wey dem ft make by sending minimum of 500 messages per day to different clients.

Abiodun consider im work as "small piece of global operation and lesser crime wen you compare am to internet fraud".

"E no different from chat wit loved one or friend, wey millions of pipo dey do every day," im tok, switching to Gingerhoney as one message appear for di dashboard.

Na di 50-year-old man for US, dey ask for meeting.

"Oh sorry, I have to walk my dog now," Gingerhoney responds.

Na di same kind of escuse wey dem bin train chat moderators to use dodge dat kain request.

Abiodun close di tab and open anoda wia Erikka, "a pearl wey fit satisfy your craziest fantasies", get message wey dey wait for her from Sam for London.