Uganda internet fraudster named John Oloya was arrested in Kampala on Friday after being tracked down by Ugandan Intelligence officers.
According to a source, John Oloya, a Ugandan Acholi was finally arrested after an individual he scammed in the name of Africano Mande (Deputy Commissioner General of National Revenue Authority (NRA) of South Sudan) reported him to authorities.
After his arrest in a sting operation involving Ugandan intelligence officers, it was found that he ran over 50 Facebook accounts impersonating senior South Sudanese government officials which included Vice President Taban Deng Gai, Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Johnson Juma Okot among others.
The fraudster would send random South Sudanese messages using a fake Facebook account in a name of any government official and asks for monetary favors to pay school fees for children he is sponsoring in Kampala. He would say that he’s engaged with serious government activities in Juba, so he won’t be able to send the children their money on time. He then tells his unsuspecting victim that he would immediately refund the money once he’s free. But soon after he has received the money he would deactivate the Facebook account and create another.
He also created fake online scholarship opportunities for South Sudanese students. Desperate students end up paying a fee to supposedly secure free scholarships abroad. Many students in the country have fallen his victims.
He was arrested at Ntinda, a suburb of Kampala. He is expected to be arraigned in court this month to answer to charges of cyber-crime in Uganda.