Richie’s story doesn’t begin with fraud. It begins in Badagry, a former hub of the slave trade near Lagos, where a young boy played happily on the beach before his mother whisked him away to the city in what felt like a betrayal he’d never quite forgive. By his late teens, he’d worked at a bakery, managed a sports betting shop, and dreamed of becoming a journalist—the kind of person who could talk to people from all walks of life. But university felt out of reach, and desperation has a way of rewriting ambitions.
What started as a side hustle to pay for polytechnic tuition spiraled into something far darker. Richie became a“picker”for a ring of Lagos-based scammers, which meant he specialized in the cruelest con of all: romance fraud. He’d pose as“Richie,”a white American businessman, and hunt for older women on Facebook. The goal wasn’t just to extract money—it was to turn them into unwitting accomplices, money mules who’d move stolen funds through Bitcoin while believing they were helping someone they loved.
His masterpiece was a woman named Trisha from Kentucky. She was middle-aged, unemployed after a work accident, and trapped in a marriage to a man with a temper. Richie noticed she was starved for attention and affection. For two weeks, he kept things light, building trust without pushing for money. Then he shifted tactics: simple, caring questions when her husband wasn’t around. How was your day? What did you eat for lunch? He called her“sweetheart”and“babe.”They sang Ed Sheeran’s“Perfect”together. When her husband grew jealous and threatened Richie, the scammer—posing as a former FBI agent—intimidated him into silence with threats of police involvement.
Trisha gave him everything: her Social Security number, driver’s license, photos of herself holding her ID. Richie opened dozens of bank accounts in her name. When Cash App limits were reached, she’d visit Bitcoin ATMs at 2 a.m. for him. She didn’t complain. She believed in him. And as Richie told the book’s author, Carlos Barragán, with visible heaviness in his voice:“Trisha was a kind and understanding woman with a deep passion for true love. She would sacrifice anything for love.”
This excerpt from Barragán’s new book, The Yahoo Boys: Love, Deception, and the Real Lives of Nigeria’s Romance Scammers, pulls back the curtain on an industry built on psychological manipulation and economic desperation. It’s tempting to see scammers as one-dimensional villains, but Richie’s trajectory reveals something more complicated: a young man with real potential, real dreams, and real circumstances that made crime look like the only viable path. That doesn’t excuse what he did. But it does explain why understanding the human cost of these scams—on both victims and perpetrators—matters more than ever.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.