A Nigerian man who allegedly ran an online “romance” scam that took two El Paso County women for more than $78,000 was arrested Friday in Georgia.
Kelly Itive, 26, was arrested in Cobb County, Ga., on Friday morning and faces extradition to Colorado on suspicion of theft and criminal impersonation, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said.
Itive moved to the United States in early 2017 on a student visa and “immediately started his scam,” according to the Sheriff’s Office, which has been investigating his role in a “Nigerian romance scam” since February.
Authorities say he met his victims through social media, posing as a middle-aged white man with an engineering background. He would woo women before asking for money, using fake bank websites to deceive the women into thinking he had the means to pay them back.
Between April 2017 and February 2018, two El Paso County women sent him more than $78,000, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Kelly Itive, 26, was arrested in Cobb County, Ga., on Friday morning and faces extradition to Colorado on suspicion of theft and criminal impersonation, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said.
Itive moved to the United States in early 2017 on a student visa and “immediately started his scam,” according to the Sheriff’s Office, which has been investigating his role in a “Nigerian romance scam” since February.
Authorities say he met his victims through social media, posing as a middle-aged white man with an engineering background. He would woo women before asking for money, using fake bank websites to deceive the women into thinking he had the means to pay them back.
Between April 2017 and February 2018, two El Paso County women sent him more than $78,000, the Sheriff’s Office said.
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